Well, here I am. I'm back. Sorry for being on Hiatus for quite a while. So here's my payback.

This is the first of a four chapter long update. The first I finished checking anyway. It's the whole arc update. I had intended it to be a short one chapter, but now I began to realize a single short chapter, even a semi serious one like this, is beyond my ability to shorten. Basically I just realized I can't make it shorter than a whole damn arc. This, among other things, is the reason why this story was on hiatus for so long.

The other chapters will soon follow. The next one is the shortest of the four chapter arc, but the final two will be the longest. I will upload them as soon as I finished checking and adjusting them. Enjoy.

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If one dare ask the question:

What do you think a Knightmaster fear the most?

Zaft Civilians would say: "You kidding me? He's a knightmaster, how could he fear anything?"

One asks his enemies, they would say:

"…act of God, maybe Devil?"

One asks his students, they would probably say…

"Fear itself, I think." Athrun answered and Kira nodded in the background. "How does he put it… 'Fear blanks one mind. Rendering one blind to solution that should be right in front of their eyes. That's a dangerous flaw any commander can betray in the field. That could get you, and your men, killed."

"But if you ask him, he'll say there's no shame in feeling it. Fear is wisdom in the face of danger. Only idiots and madman don't feel fear at all, and Lord Yuki is neither." Kira added.

So… what if one ask Eilleen Canaver, his Right hand Woman, that question?

"Ray Yuki fears one thing and one thing only. Or to be precise… one person… above all others." Eilleen Canaver nonchalantly pointed a finger:

"…a very pissed off Lennore Zala in a very bad day."

Which is why now Eilleen stood in front of the doorway to Ray Yuki's office shooing away entire battalions of concerned knights, and Judges, who were still wondering what on earth happened when a slew of spears literally rain down on the Knightmaster's office. Any sane people would translate that as the Knightmaster needing help. But as far as Eilleen know… the only thing need saving in that room right now is Ray Yuki's dignity.

If empty walls can talk, they'll talk about the indignity of a Knightmaster barely hanging onto a chandelier with an angry mother shouting abuses down below swinging the business end of her spear at his rear.

"RAY! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE! I want to try this new menu, it rhymes with SHISH KEBAB!"

"Lennore! Argh!" Another spear thrown for the would-be Knightmaster Kebab. "Calm down and please listen!"

"I'M SO THROUGH LISTENING! I'M ASKING THE QUESTIONS HERE!" Lennore shrieked as she pulled out another spare spear. Apart from the halberd she held in one hand, she got lots of spears, apparently. Lord knows where she hid them.

"Kira's in danger you know that?"

"Oh REALLY!? HAVING BOTH OF MY BOYS TANGLING WITH THE WORST CRIMINAL ELEMENTS OF APRILLUS IS NOT ENOUGH DANGER!?"

"They… wait…" Ray blinked. "You knew? All along?"

"Yes. Long before Athrun get involved in it. Did you really think I wouldn't notice that Kira would sometimes disappear for great lengths of time only to return with injuries worse than someone of his age!? If she were here, Caridad would hang you with your own intestines, Hakutenkun be damned! And there's this… this ROSSO character start appearing in the news the same day Kira returned home to show his mummified self in front of Athrun! DID YOU THINK I'M THAT STUPID!?"

"In my defense, most of those injuries are not my doing – WOOPS!" Yuki dodged another spear barely missing his head. "T… Then… if you already know… why are you so mad ab… OH SHIT!" Ray had to duck beneath a candle when an infuriated Lennore hurled yet an even larger spear millimeters away from his head.

"I'm not asking 'what were you thinking dragging a pair of children into your war', Ray." Lennore growled. "I'm asking how could you?"

"How could I… what?" Ray is still hiding behind the chandelier, wondering which craptastic decision he had made that earned him the wrath of his best friend…

"You deported Kira off the continent!?"

Oh. That one. "You do understand that Kira nearly killed a person?" The fact that this is the first time Ray's reply didn't elicit another spear assault means Lennore's listening now. "The Reingraze kid barely made it to the hospital, Lennore. In fact, if it weren't for Lady Clyne saving his life, Kira could be seeing the gallows right now!"

"But you still banished him."

"Okay, for the record, I didn't banish him." Ray dared himself to pop his head out of the chandelier. "I reassigned him. Okay?" He peeped. "…can I come down?"

Lennore's response: hurl another spear that cut the chandelier, and the scared shitless Knightmaster, down to ground level with a bang. Ray was still holding for dear life to his chandelier when he finally see eye to eye with the still less than pleased Lennore. Point in fact, she's still pissed.

"…I had to… do the best I can. The elder Reingraze was furious when he heard his son almost died and he was pressing charges and vendettas! He would be out for Kira's blood right now if I hadn't done what I did. Reassignment is the only way I can ensure his safety."

"Really? You're the Knightmaster and the Supreme Judge, and that's the best you can do!?"

"It is PRECISELY because I'm a Knightmaster and the Supreme Judge, that is the best I can do. Even though I want to do more, Lennore, believe me, I do."

"But… why banish him? You could've done something else… suspend him… house arrest… anything… anything but sending him off this continent! He could find safety in my manor, you know that!"

"He'll be safe… but he'll never be at peace." Ray sighed. He regained his dignity by letting go the chandelier at last. "…Lennore… I'll be honest with you… things… changed. Ever since I came back from Junius, I've realized many things were… so much different, and there's no going back. Before Junius, many of the recruits still revere me as if I'm some kind of a living legend. Back then, I was able to live up to it, and I'm proud to be their inspiration. I came back from Junius, I see a lot of faces I didn't know. They too had been weaned on my legends… but all they get out of me is a… washed out, broken, disturbed, old, man, and don't you deny it, we both know it's true! They've noticed that. My time is past. The future is in the hands of someone else now." Ray gave Lennore a look, and she understand somewhat.

"Do you think I haven't heard the whispers? That I'm retiring and I was that desperate to look for a successor, I readied two for good measure? Well, they're not wrong." Ray wearily sighed as he starts cleaning up his ransacked office. "Kira and Athrun… Noir and Rosso. These two will now pick up the torch we left behind. You know that and… and more importantly: EVERYBODY knows that. Everybody, from recruits to veterans, all acknowledged that Noir and Rosso are the best and brightest of this generation. I created the Circle, but I don't set the standards anymore. They do. Everyone is now following their example, especially Noir. He may not realize it, but now… now he had become the template of what all Judge recruits aspires to be. I even had a letter here from the Grand Master of the Onyx Hassassin's Order, personally begging to borrow Noir, asking if the boy can give some lectures to some of the Onyx's recruits in Counter Espionage class. I was planning to tell him about this offer when THIS happened." Ray had set up a pair of chairs, one for him, one for Lennore.

Lennore took the seat, but she still keeps her halberd and spear at arm's reach.

"See… being a Judge has a lot rules. And Kira… well… believe it or not, he was a repeat offender. In fact, the number of Kira's infractions literally doubled once your son gets on board, as do the property damage."

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Case 074:

Arrest of Druglord Willie

"…D… Did you just… broke into the evidence locker and literally stole half a ton of drugs from it!?" Ray was holding back from screaming abuses as he debriefed Rosso… and Noir in his head.

"Actually it was Noir's idea." Rosso wasn't trying to shift the blame… "I did try to stop him, but I also realize there was no other way."

"I just leaked a couple of bits about the locker's vulnerabilities in its defenses to a bunch of overeager Jamaican dopeheads and let them steal it." And Noir had the nerve to actually laugh in his head. "How else can we get the big boss of this drug syndicate out of hiding, with a cache that big? Ha!"

The poor Knightmaster began to wonder if he had trained the foremost champion of the law or the greatest criminal mastermind of the age. "Did you at least get that son of a bitch?"

Rosso sighed… and lifted the still very much alive and breathing head of Willie the Druglord. Just the head. Nothing else attached. "How you doin' mon?" so says the head.

"He did this to himself, before you ask."

They've seen weirder.

"Okay… where are the drugs?"

"He ate it." Rosso pointed at the head.

"…what?"

"He ate it." No, he wasn't kidding.

"ALL OF IT!? HALF A TON OF DRUGS!?"

"It was good, mon! Want some?" The head laughed, showcasing his cocaine bleached teeth.

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Case 131:

Hostage Situation of House Mirett's youngest daughter…

Ray Yuki ordered all forces to stand down, including his judges. Athrun and Kira made a different call, and they successfully infiltrated the castle, took down the kidnapper's underling one by one until they came face to face with the head honcho. Unfortunately, the mastermind don't exactly do things quietly… not when they all had a bloodline limit to turn any part of their body into bombs.

Athrun can survive this… but he had to use his environments as a shield for the hostage… which doesn't exactly end well… for the castle.

The Law Enforcements can only watch in bafflement as an entire castle collapsed to rubble whilst Rosso carried the rescued and virtually unscathed hostage, and dragged the battered hostage-takers behind him, away from the crumbling site. The Aprillus Warden roared in Rosso's face: "You just demolished a castle worth 1,200,000 credits for a child whose ransom worth only 20,000!? How could you justify this!?"

It has been a long day. And goaded by the little voices in his head, the stressed out Rosso replied: "Fuck you sir. Fuck you and Good day."

That was the day Athrun learned the 'language', at long last.

And he found he likes it.

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Ray held his aching temple. God, it's all coming back to him. The lawsuits, the letters of apologies, the bills… And that last bit about what Athrun's vocabulary had become as of late is something his mother must never know… because Ray Yuki still values his life, thank you very much. "These two are my best Judges, but… one of them is a compulsive rulebreaker… and the other is being unintentionally destructive."

"Wait… but weren't you his proxy? Then…"

"I've had my share. Athrun was manageable. His rigidity and discipline had been forged and tampered with his actual passion for order and efficiency. Kira was more flexible and less predictable. But… as rebellious as he was… Kira… is a boy… no… a man of conviction and a very strict moral discipline. He followed a standard up to a point. He will break or bend rules to his advantage if he felt it was necessary. Athrun would balance this habitual rule breaking by constantly reminding the lines that they shouldn't break. And even he too, thanks to Kira's influence, learned the value of thinking well outside the box. Both kids gave each other sound arguments and inputs that build each other's character. There are some rules they would bend or break without hesitation, and then there are some, which infractions they would consider a personal affront."

Lennore nodded in approval. This activity had had both her children improved each other immensely, both in maturity and experience. That's more than half the reason she hadn't speared her best friend in the head.

"The issue here is that those who looked up to them also followed their examples, including their capacity to stretch rules. Lucky for us, their standards are also being followed. Unlucky for us, it was being followed to a varying degree of success and even more ambiguous moral discipline. I'm already stressed out as is handling one pair of loose cannon Judges, I'm having nightmares dealing with a whole generation of them!"

"But the ironclad rule that a Judge… any Judge must never break is: you don't have the right to execute your suspects before they face a fair trial at the court of law. A Judge is the Marshall, the Warden, the Jury, sometimes even the Lawmaker… but never an Executioner. Kira… Noir… tried to do just that! He tried to break the one cardinal rule he should've never broken! If he gets away with this unpunished, future Judges will now think it's okay to break this rule. And the next time, the… 'victim'… may not be so lucky."

"So you lay the blame on an 8 year old who snapped due to the stress of matching wits with crooks and killers!?"

"No. I blame myself. I've failed to see what he's becoming. What I was turning him into. I forget I owe him a childhood. So… I tried to give him some semblance of it back. Though I fear it is too late now. Understand this… Kira's action is wrong. I can't let him go unpunished… and I can't keep him here either, not in Aprillus. Not even if I put him on a house arrest in the safety of your manor, not if it's located in Aprillus soil. This place is just too… bent. And Kira… you know how he is. He looked at things and see more than anyone, all the evil in the kindest of actions. And the best part about him is… he see evil… and he will do everything he can to right it and he's very good at it. He goes around, stretching himself to all manner of extent to do that, with little to no care given to his own being… at this rate, he'll snap. Actually he has snapped. He needs to calm down now. But he's seen too much lies and deceit in here. He'll never find peace. And he'll never forgive himself, he'll never forgive you or me if we try to stifle him from doing what he think is right, even if it means to protect him."

Lennore glared even angrier at Ray's apparently helplessness. "Where is he now? Where have you sent him?"

"I'm reassigning him to a place where he can at least rest his mind. To Februarius."

"Februarius!?" Lennore roared again. Her halberd and spear rose into view once again. "You call that a resting place!?"

"Februarius is by far the most peaceful continent in the entire breadth of the Empire. The crime rate there is the lowest of all continents."

"It's also the center of the Empire's magical dominion! Everyone in that continent is a mage and you know Kira's a Muggle right? He'll be an outcast! A freak!"

"He's already an outcast even amongst us. A powerless little kid amidst a whole population of super powered heavy hitters. He coped with it quite well, considering." Ray shrugged. "Of course, don't think I would let him go to that continent alone and un-chaperoned. That's not going to be Rosso's job before you ask."

"Oh?"

"Athrun stays here. He's innocent in this, and I put him on suspension for now. And more importantly…" Ray bent his head down. "Now that you've figured out your son's secret identity, it won't be long before Patrick start sniffing around too. In fact, he is watching me very closely at the moment. I pushed him away with a stern warning of course, but I need Athrun to put up appearances for his father, keep him away for now. Help him out, Lennore."

Lennore understand of course. Ray hates nothing more than politics start interfering in justice. "I'll do what I can. But what about Kira? Who's looking after him?"

"I've already tasked Februarius' Magister Judge to pick him up and watch over him for me."

"You mean that woman? She's a weirdo."

"What? Judge Griseus? (Latin for the color Grey AN: somebody check this up, I could be wrong) She's fine. A bit eccentric, sure… but she's a good woman, once you get to know her."

"I do know her, Ray, which is why this is me saying: I. Am. Worried!"

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On the pretense of escorting the condemned, Athrun – Rosso get the permission to at least accompany Noir across the streets of Aprillus until they meet the Magister Judge that should be watching over him from here on out.

"What happened to you? I mean… why do you… and after that you didn't seem to remember anything?"

"I don't… know. I saw Ashem, saw how miserable he was… I pitied him, I felt sad for him… and then I saw Reingraze was trying to gut him and it just… got me… so… mad. So angry. And then I just saw black and… and I just… oh god…" As the perpetrator of this incident, Kira look just as miserable as his victim.

"Why can't I go with you, I'll never understand." Athrun grumbled.

"You're innocent." Kira replied.

"The hell I am. I should've stopped you before it get this far. They should've punished me too."

"Don't beat yourself over it. This was all me. And you know it. Plus, they did punish you. You're being put on suspension, I hear."

"Yeah." Athrun moaned. Even though his teacher and friend had worked him like a horse, he wasn't too enthusiastic on the prospect of stopping either. After everything he went through, he's not sure he can go back to the world he knew, looking at it the same way as he used to. A lot of things had changed in Athrun within the last 6 months. Back then, Athrun can at least treat any nobles, even the most obnoxious ass kisser, with, at the worst, a mild neglect and lame smile. Now, his world view has been turned upside down: white became black and some blacks became grey. He had learned well all the tricks of seeing through those façade from the best. Too well, perhaps. Now all those glamorous banquets he used to go had turned into a shooting range of people with target on their face saying: I'm a liar and certifiable A-holes, plz punch me in the face. He had to resist the impulse every damn day. "Well… you did warn me. The world you lived in… leaves a stain. And it may be indelible."

"Regretting it now?"

"…not really." Athrun smirked. "…in the end… I gained more than what I've lost. So… no. I don't regret it. What about you? You're going to Februarius. ALONE?"

"As I understand it, Februaries is a continent more suited for entertainment resort (AN: imagine a continent sized Disneyland, Universal Studio, Las Vegas, winter version of Hawaii, and Hollywood all mixed in one). A Wondrous Winter Wonderland, they call it. Didn't you say you always wanna go there?"

"A part of me is envying you like crazy, yes." Athrun grumbled like a child for once. "But that's not the issue. That's the continent of mages and you're… you're a non magical person… erh… what-do-they-call-it Muggle! Are you gonna be okay?"

"Let's see… one little old powerless me in the midst of people with unimaginable powers and abilities. Sounds like the story of my life indeed." Noir snorted and Rosso let the irony sinks in. "Lord Yuki said I'll be under the auspices of a senior Magister Judge… Judge Griseus, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Did someone just call one of my names?"

Noir and Rosso immediately turned to finally see the one who responded to that call. Their jaw dropped past their masks.

Standing before them is a strikingly beautiful young woman in her twenties, with green lime long hair extending down almost to her waist. Her golden eyes were half closed, as if she's in a bore. Beneath the bangs of her hair on her forehead, there seem to be something that resembles a red sigil. Her lips and mouth is covered in cheese and tomato, with a trail of molten cheese strand extending down the half eaten slice of pizza she's holding in one hand. What's even more eye gouging is the clothes she chose wear. Athrun and Kira recognized that clothing as the standard issue strait jacket… used on patients in the insane asylum, albeit unbuttoned and loose. "Did one of you just called one of my names?"

Noir blinked several times. "Umm… Rosso… send a runner to the Insane Asylum, I think they're missing a patient…?"

"Rosso?" The woman looked at the halberd wielding Judge and then to the miniature one armed grim reaper at his side… and she nodded. "Ah, you must be Noir. Ray told me about you."

"Ex… Excuse me?"

The woman smiled as she played around the cheese strand on her pizza. "Code name's Griseus. Magister Judge Griseus. Or you can just call me C.C."

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"She ate pizza every day, she waltzed around talking to furniture, walls, and even thin air… at times I'm not even sure she's awake or lucid! Are you sure she's the best person to care for poor Kira!?" Lennore listed these flaws as a concerned step-mother would.

"Kira can stomach her. Lord knows, he stomached worse!"

"With both arms and eyes intact, I'm sure." Lennore stressed the fact that Kira had yet to recover from his injuries. "And if I recall correctly, C.C. never seem to have any housing to speak of… in fact did she ever sleep!?"

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"You're… Griseus? And you call yourself… C.C.? That's your real name, but Judges aren't supposed to…"

"Come now, children." C.C. grinned flatly. "Do you honestly think any mother would name their children C.C.? I've forgotten my real name a LOOONG time ago. What's the point of wearing a disguise when even you don't remember who you are?" To make her point, C.C. even revealed her mask. It's a plain grey mask, not dissimilar with the standard Trainee mask worn by Judge Recruits, except C.C. had taken the liberty of painting a red wing like sigil on top of it, and she welded her Judge's badge on it as well. It made the mask unwearable, but the strait jacketed woman has no plan on wearing it any time soon, it seems.

"Wait… you said a long time ago… How old are you?" Noir gawked.

"What manners! Don't you know it's rude to ask a lady her age?"

Noir and Rosso flabbergasted.

"Come on now." C.C. turned around and pointed her pizza forward like a commander's sword ordering a charge. "On to Februarius, chop, chop!"

Rosso and Noir don't know how to react: act like idiots and follow or run like hell and find a Health inspector. By duty, Rosso is supposed to leave Noir here and now, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't MORE than concerned. So Rosso accompanied Noir much further, following the weird Judge around. Funnily enough, they didn't go to the docks… instead, they headed towards the Februarius Embassy inland. It's a small robust wooden cabin. An oddity considering they're being surrounded by towering marble constructed buildings. The only decoration visible is the plaque strapped atop the front door with the name of the building (fEBUARiuS EmBaZEe) written on it with multi colored crayon and the artistry (as well as poor grammar mastery) of a drunk 5 year old.

"You haven't arranged the Permits yet?" Rosso rolled his eyes. "That could take days, even for a Judge!"

"Permit?" C.C. rolled her eyes. "Why on earth would I need that?" The Grey Judge opened the door and let an increasingly bewildered Noir in. When Rosso wants to follow, C.C. stood in his way. "Now, as I recall… I'm only to take Noir in, not you, yes?"

"Why… yes… But… But…"

"Judge Rosso, report back to the Supreme Judge. By his decree, your suspension begins as of right now."

"-!" Athrun can't say anything anymore. As soon as that statement escaped C.C.'s lips, his suspension begins and he just lost his authority as a Judge. He can only exchange one last worried glance with Noir, who merely gave him a nod of encouragement.

Rosso dejected back swiftly disappeared around the street. And then C.C. closed the door and start busying herself locking down every single opening within the cabin.

Meanwhile, Noir gave himself a chance to look around this cabin. It's just a cabin. A very simple cabin made out of wood. And very little to no opening. There's only enough room for twenty or so people in here… and there's nothing. No furniture, no desks, only a single lantern hanging overhead for lighting. "What… exactly is going on here?" Noir steadied himself, preparing for the worst. Either this C.C. is truly off her bonkers, or he's walking into a trap. He start counting the number of ways to escape… it's bleak.

"Well, we're going to Februarius, are we not?" With one last clack, C.C. shut the last lock in the last opening on the room.

"Shouldn't we be at the harbor? As I recall it's a four day voyage, even if we're lucky?"

"Four days? That'll be too long."

Clap, clap… She clapped twice…

"A~and we're there."

"What!?" Noir blinked. The only thing he feel is that the room temperature seem to lower by a few dozen degrees all the sudden. C.C. reopened all the locks and pushed the cabin door open.

Lo and behold, they walked out of the Cabin in the middle of Aprillus dense cityscape… straight into the snowy plains of Februarius.

Kira's jaw just went loose. He looked back and forth between the snowy plains and the completely empty room of the wooden cabin. "Wh… wh… wh…"

"Arara! Welco~ome!"

"?"

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"About that… something interesting happened a little earlier." Ray smiled in a rather weird way. "Regarding Kira's housing and care in Februarius, someone expressed interest in providing him with both. All amenities included; counting food and welfare. Free of charge. No strings attached."

Knowing Ray, he must've investigated such an offer thoroughly to be able to say that with such confidence. Hence Lennore raised an eyebrow in delighted surprise. "Who is kind enough to offer such a thing?"

"That information has been kept secret."

"…they kept secret… from you. YOU!?"

"…well…not exactly a secret. Not from me or you. She just asked me a favor to let her tell him personally."

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Noir turned around to see this little petite girl with wavy pink hair, holding what looked like a giant pink colored plushie ball. "…Lady Clyne?"

"Welcome, Judge Noir." Lacus smiled as she cordially lifted her purple skirt in a formal greeting. "To the Wondrous Winter Wonderland of Februarius."

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Chapter 56:

Tales from the Winter Wonderland Part 1:

Welcome to the Boundary

"Don't worry. I've instructed that Kira must give me a verbal progress report back to me every week. I've also arranged for the Marshall of Februarius to help him when needs be. An old acquaintance of ours, a lord Slytherin?"

"Oh, yes." And now Lennore can sigh in relief. "So you really have taken care of everything. As expected of you."

"Maybe you should've trusted me a little bit more before you ransacked my office and humiliated me in front of my men."

"You deserve that, you jerk." Lennore growled. "The only reason I forgive you for bringing Kira into all this was because in the end, Kira is still alive and well… and Athrun too has grown more mature, far better than when he was under his parents' care. But still, I had to ask your wisdom for dragging them into this world in the first place!"

"In my defense, it was Kira's idea to bring Athrun into it." Ray sighed. "Defenses aside… Lennore… we don't have much time left… do we?"

"Eh…" Lennore gaped.

"Don't think I haven't noticed. You've been making plans, drawing up charts, even having Athrun and Kira help you compile that book about Junius in their spare time… You're coming back there… and you don't expect you'll survive."

"Don't tell me you're going to…"

"Do you seriously think I would just up and left? After all the Hell we went through there? The revelations and all?" Ray Yuki glared at Lennore. "You're coming back there… and I'll be damned if I let you go alone."

"But… But…"

"We can't have their backs forever. The time will come when these two kids will and must become their own men. What we can do now, is prepare them while we still can. They are the pillars that will shoulder this country's future someday."

0000000 8 Years later… 0000000

Lacus kept watching from up above the overlooking balcony until she can no longer see or hear the train. Considering her ears, that's about an hour or so after the train had vanished from her sight.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Kaguya crossed her arms as she stood behind her bestie.

Lacus closed her eyes as she took her helmet and put it on. "(Kosssff) Come on. (Koff) We've got work to do. (koff)"

Kaguya raised her hands in exasperation. If she knew her best friend right, in which she do, Lacus will be sulking for quite a while.

"So. You've been assigned at the Empress' side. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm a doctor. (Koff) I do what I always do, the way I always do it. (koff) You should know me best. (Koff)"

"Oh I do." An uneasy but mischievous smile found their way to Kaguya's face as she rubbed her palm together in excitement. Boy. Oh. Boy. Things are about to be just like the old times.

Let's hope Beijing is still recognizable when she's done.

The two former classmates wasted no time and went straight to the throne room. Already Kaguya's face immediately wrinkled with dislike. Their way towards the Empress was barred by a group of some unknown guards. With the absence of the familiar girls, they're not the Imperial Guard, that's for certain.

"Will you kindly let us pass? (koff)" Hikari politely asked with a bow.

"By order of her majesty the Empress, no one may enter without permission."

Kaguya raised an eyebrow. "And who issued this order?"

"Eunuch Gao Hai."

"Ah. (koff)" Both girls nodded. So, the Eunuchs had started to make their move. Hikari whispered to Kaguya: "Knowing you, you must've studied the forbidden palace inside out by now. (koff) You know any other way we can get in? (koff) Secret tunnels and entrances of sorts?"

"Sure. Just don't tell Xing Ke you get it from me."

The other way Kaguya spoke of is a secret tunnel that starts from a well a few blocks away from the main building and lead straight to the throne room. This was meant to be used only in emergencies. They popped out of the secret door that was an unassuming wall on the corner of the throne room. When they arrived on the golden room, they saw Salamandine, alone and bereft of the other Imperial Guard, stood angrily between the Empress and the Eunuchs lining up in front of her. For obvious reason, she doesn't look so happy.

"Salamandine, please step aside. The Empress must attend to her duties now."

"I don't recall her duty now necessitates removing her from the watch of the Imperial Guards!" Salamandine growled.

"We have them… reassigned. We just felt that the Empress safety had been compromised as of late."

"You mean her isolation?" The Head of the Imperial Guard hissed. The Empress can do little but mutely cower behind her back.

"Now, now, Salamandine, surely you must understand our concern." The Eunuch smirked. "There has been multiple attempts of her highness well being already. Several killers and hooligans had even managed to get so far as nearly poisoning her majesty! You can't blame us if we have our doubts!"

"If I recall correctly, that poor bastard now languished in Master Bull's prison, wishing he had never been born." Salamandine won't budge an inch. "He hasn't talked yet. But I wonder whose names will come out when he does."

Undaunted, the Eunuchs maintain their innocent façade… "That being said, we feel that the Empress is grossly underprotected under your-"

"EXCUU~UUSE ME!" –that is until Hikari decided to interject with her horrid singsong voice.

Salamandine and the Eunuchs gaped in shock. The two parties were so engrossed over their argument; neither noticed Hikari and Kaguya had taken the liberty of climbing the throne from behind and made their way to the Empress' sides. The Eunuchs were furious, whilst Salamandine, while she was equally shocked, was the opposite. Though she had to wonder where she came in… and why she's here. "Umm… Hikari-daifu? What are you doing?"

"Anoo… I'm a daemon summoning witch doctor and I'm going to kidnap the Empress now and toss her into a furnace of a lit oven. (koff) So do kindly try to stop me. (Koff)"

"…what?" Kaguya's gut told her she heard something wrong with that statement, but her brains accepted it using logic beyond her comprehension, and her body had already prepared for what's to come whenever her bestie had a bright idea.

"Excuse me, toss her into what?" Salamandine's mind conjured up an image of a roasted Peking duck. Why ducks? Why indeed.

"Eh?" the Empress looked shocked at the masked doctor. Before anyone can react, Hikari had already whisked the petite Empress up in her arms.

"Rift of Doors. Rift of Passage. Rift of Paths… Rift of the Gate. Gallop your way through the fabrics of space. Emptiness is the field you ride, nothingness is the path you trod. I pray three come forth… Leraje the Voidwalker!"

"I am the voidwalker. By my covenant with this one, I shall go through where none can. No obstacle will bar me, my feet will pass through the immaterial and material, through the seams of this reality's fabrics and that of the void. I'm Leraje, the Voidwalker."

"GUARDS!" The Eunuchs screamed in horror, and upon hearing that scream, the armed guards outside immediately burst in, weapons at the ready. But they were dumbstruck before the most unbelievable of sights.

An unearthly sound that barely resemble a horse neigh resounded allover the hall. In place of the Empress and her would be captors, they saw before them a bronze colored giant armored demon knight with an upper half of a human torso with two arms supported by the lower half of a horse with four legs. The half human half horse demon knight, the Centaur Knight, Leraje the Voidwalker stood on its two back legs, its frontal legs raised and cycled menacingly several times like a horse preparing to pounce. When it landed, the two hooves stomped the ground so hard, the shockwave rattled reality itself and sent everyone before her flying ten paces back, knocking them all unconscious.

Once the hall was littered with unconscious eunuchs and would be killers, Salamandine and the Empress also regained her wits. Salamadine spoke first. "Umm… Hikari-daifu? I just caught on to what you've just said… you're going to toss the Empress into the oven… that was a joke right?"

"No. (koff) I'm not joking. (koff)" To make her point, Hikari snapped her finger and Leraje responded knowingly by unlatching a part of her mechanical back. That portion is still connected to the Centaur Knight by a strand of chain as it transformed. It extended out a pair of wheels as it opened up a spacious room atop it. It's a demonic open top carriage. Without further ado, and while Salamandine is still in haywire mode in her attempt to process what the doctor just said, Hikari hurled the squealing Empress into the carriage before she herself hopped in. "If you're worried, I encourage you to come along and do try and stop me if I go too far. (koff)"

"What?"

"Might as well just come along, Sala-chan." Kaguya dragged the confused Salamandine aboard before her wits can recover. "I had a feeling this Hikari is way worse than I remembered."

"Way worse!?"

"ALL ABOARD! (KOFF) HAIYAHH!"

Leraje neighed and charged forward with her carriage in tow, carrying her passengers. Two of them were too confused to be scared. Kaguya was the first to notice this chariot is charging straight towards the clearly undersized door. "Hikari! Door! DOOR!" But to her disbelief, Leraje didn't slow down, but speeding up instead. And then, as they were just one breath away from smashing through the undersized frame, it skewed up. The door changed its own size to suit Leraje's build. The same thing happened to the narrow passageways and roads that awaits them on the other side of the door. Leraje is no gentle driver – more like a rampaging drunkard on a joyride. She's not even trying to avoid obstacles, more like trying her damndest to actually hit something. But the road before her expanded like stretched rubber to accommodate the centaur Daemon knight's massive girth. Furniture and pillars literally jumped away to avoid her before returning back to where they were, as if a 15 feet tall half human half horse Greater demon didn't just trample allover the place. Servants and maids screamed in horror when the rampaging centaur plows through them. Miraculously, no one was hurt. The Centaur either missed them by the inches, or they just jumped away in time, or the skewing fabrics of space and reality just pulled them all to safety.

Through it all, Leraje either forget, or didn't care, that all but one of her passengers are not exactly comfortable with her driving style. "YEEEEEHAAAWW! HOW YA DOIN' BACK THERE GIRLS!?" And she actually had the nerve to ask that. Kaguya counted she had vomited 3 times in her stomach. If she opened her mouth, she will gush them all out. Salamandine was still thinking the kindly doctor Hikari was joking when she first said about the oven thing. Now she's not so sure. Tien Zi was stiff between nervousness and confusion. Nervous as this was her first experience on a chariot, confusion as she began to wonder is this really what it's like to ride a chariot!? Then she looked at the supposed driver, Hikari, and… wait… she's not even looking on where her centaur is going. She's looking at the map of the Forbidden Palace? No. That's a world map! She's mumbling something…

"I wonder where can we find a furnace big enough for us all? (koff) The Imperial Kitchen does have some really big oven… (koff) Aaargh… no good… (koff) Someone help me pretty plee~ase…? (koff)"

Meanwhile, blissfully unaware of this chaos unraveling, Naga and Kaname had just finished reassembling their scattered Imperial Guard. This morning, the Imperial Guard was told by the Eunuchs that they were reassigned to menial guard duties across the palace. A new imperial Guard was to be assigned in their place. Obviously this was done without the Empress or Xing Ke's approval. "Reassigned my ass." Naga grumbled angrily. "Are we ready yet, Kaname!?" The no less angry Kaname gripped her weapon tight. "Those Eunuchs have gone too far!" And so they decided to charge through those faux guards and liberate the Empress with force. "We're ready to charge into the throne room at any time!"

But before they can proceed with this clearly suicidal plan, a loud rapid noise of galloping hooves echoed down the hall. They thought it was a horse, but they've never heard a horse that big or that strange. "Huh? Why is there a horse in the pala… WHAT IS THAT!?"

Naga and Kaname stand shock and slack jawed when they saw a clearly oversized half human half horse monstrosity charging towards them through what is clearly a passageway 10 size too narrow. And yet the space around the centaur knight bends and stretches, allowing it to pass through the road unfazed, leaving no signs of destruction whatsoever.

Moments away before the stunned Imperial Guards were trampled under its hoof, the horse stopped. The law of physics says with that much mass at that velocity, the momentum should still be enough to hurl the halting centaur knight to roll over the Imperial Guards. But again, the laws of nature get bent pretty badly around the unnatural creature. The floor contoured and expanded, widening the distance between Naga and Kaname, providing plenty space for Leraje to spend her momentum, and slow down. When she finally stopped, her hooves were just inches away from their lips, and reality also stopped skewing out of proportion, reverting back to its natural state… at least for a while.

Slowly, dreadfully, Naga and Kaname bent their heads to look up and saw the 15 feet tall Demon knight looking down upon them gently from the top.

"Howdy." She even gave them a cowboy salute as she touched the tip of her helmet.

"HOEEEEEKKK!" Alas, before Naga and Kaname can even respond, a pair of god awful noise erupted from the Centaur Knights back. One of the horrid voice sound strangely familiar to the Guards.

"Oh. Yep. That's it. The bag is right there. Just let it all out. It's funny, everybody always vomit after, never during." Leraje laughed heartily.

"You think!?" An angry howl protested. Unless they're dreaming, they could've sworn they just heard the angry howl of the leader of the Imperial Guards. "Your majesty! Are you okay!?"

"That… was… amazing! Can we do it again!?" An excited but tiny voice peeped.

A~nd apparently… they have the Empress with them.

"Umm… Hikari… what… exactly… HURKK!" And yet another of that less than dignified sound.

"Ararara." The Centaur Knight began to move aside, allowing the Guards to finally see what's behind her: a giant carriage with her less than sterling passengers atop it, with the exception of two passengers. The Guards had their jaw opened ajar at the bizarre assemblage before them. There's Hikari on the driver seat – though she didn't even hold the reins… point in fact, where are the reins? And then there's Kaguya, puking her brains out in a bag. And there's also the rare sight of their Empress comforting their leader, Salamandine, who's also emptying her bowels into the bag. "Ararara. (Koff) Good day, ladies. (koff) I'm in the process of kidnapping the Empress. (Koff) Could you kindly point me to the direction of the largest oven in this palace? (koff) Big enough that we can toss ourselves in?"

The guards could've sworn they heard something seriously wrong with that question. But their logic still hadn't caught on with their short-circuited brain yet, so they just absent mindedly pointed on a direction.

"I see. (koff) Thank you very much, my ladies. (koff) Oh, and if Xing Ke asked, please be good enough to tell him that I'll bring the Empress back before sundown. (Koff) Okay Leraje! Chop! Chop!"

Leraje neighed again, and the space bends once more as she violently turned around and charged through a doorway, carrying her screaming (not including the one that is absent minded and another one cheering) passengers towards the direction leading to the much wanted oven.

Even after they disappeared from their sights, Naga and Kaname still had no idea what just happened. One thing they know for certain, they no longer need to charge into the throne room. Now there's just this issue of a demon horse and the oven. But the Empress looked like she's having so much fun… "…should we report this?" Naga asked. "…yeah… I think we should." Kaname replied. "…in a minute…"

The Palace oven is indeed a massive house sized oven. It's used to cook food in a massive scale and quantity, on the few occasions whenever the Palace enacted a grand royal banquet for large amount of guests. Master Bull is inspecting it right now, making sure everything is exactly where he left it when he heard that telltale galloping noise. "?" He looked around and saw that half human half horse monstrosity rushing towards him… towards the oven. 'What in Heavens' name…"

In the middle of the charge, Leraje batted her arms to the side, both transformed into something akin to a crossbow. And then she brought the two crossbows together and they merged to form an even bigger crossbow. After a short pause, she fired a single bolt of green energy, hitting the oven right in the opening. In a blink of an eye, the great oven was ablaze top to bottom in swirling green flame. And the Demon Centaur Knight is charging straight towards the gaping maw of the inferno.

"W… Wait a minute!" It was around this time Salamandine finally gathered her wits. "Hikari-daifu, when you said tossing her into the oven you were serious!?"

"Hold on to your seats! (KOFF) Here WE GOOOO! SHANGHAAII!"

"Wait, wait, wa… WAITT!" Kaguya screeched.

Even Tien zi stopped being excited for once. "KYAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

And before Master Bull's eyes, the Demon Centaur Knight, along with its carriage and its screaming passengers, which include the Empress, if he can believe his one good eye, lunged into the green flame and vanished in an eyeblink. The flame instantly died out the moment the last bit of the chariot was swallowed up by the flame. And then silence. The oven which was ablaze a moment ago is now as cool as ice, not a single speck of soot or even any burnt signs on its surface – like it had never been used before. Everything is still exactly as he left it.

"…" Master Bull spend a while to look around to make sure everyone saw what he saw and that he's not imagining things. Unfortunately he's the only one in the room, so his sanity is still open for debate. "…I think I've been working too hard." He nonchalantly concluded.

1,214 kms away… Shanghai… in a certain restaurant…

The chef of the Wu Hu Xing tavern is looking at his furnace with apprehensive eyes. He's still holding his pot of onion soup in his hand. The last time he tried to cook a soup on that open fireplace, people actually sprout out of the flames. But when that happens, one of those burning people actually had the kindness to not only pay for the soup, he even gave him a recipe to improve upon it. Recipe notwithstanding, word got out of fireplaces that spits out people and gossip spread like wildfire. It took quite a while until the rumor died down and people were convinced that his fireplace did not cook people into soups or they are not some portal to hell or something.

"It's okay. It's okay. The fire is red." And so he placed the soup onto the fire, and the smell began to permeates allover the restaurant. "Sniff… sniff… hmmm… it's great! This recipe is awesome! Okay. Time to open the shop!"

As he opened the doorway, he wore his best smile and yelled: "Yes, we're open! Welcome to-"

And the fireplace turned blazing green in an instant, the sound of neighing came and the roof exploded when a gigantic half human half horse demon knight erupted from the flame. Its driver cackled maniacally with her ghastly tone, another three are shrieking. When the otherworldly chariot disappeared from his sight, the poor chef still had that stupid smile frozen on his face. But he can hear the sound of something breaking… and that's not the sound of his obliterated restaurant collapsing into ruin before magically reverting back to its previously undamaged state…

The People of Shanghai had seen the weirdest of stuffs ever since Kage arrived at their shores: They've seen a battleship the size of a fortress, a giant of a man flinging building blocks, a sky scraping sword chopping down a Pagoda, a sheep the size of buildings made of rocks, clockwork bull made of iron… so when they saw a giant half human half horse demon rushing through the streets breaking the laws of physics and arithmetic as it go on a joyride, they merely get out of the way and wave it off as another strangeness that comes and goes in Shadow's city.

Nevertheless, Hikari had enough sense to order Leraje to slow down as they are nearing their destination. The Centaur Chariot progressively slowed her strides until she finally stopped. Once she does, the anomalous bending of space and reality also stopped.

"We're here. (koff)" Hikari declared with puff. When she turned around to see what becomes of her passenger, she frowned.

Tien Zi's fine. Apparently the experience with the floo didn't shake her much. Quite the opposite, if those glows in her eyes aren't false, she might actually enjoy the experience, much to Hikari's surprise. But right now she's concerning herself trying to comfort the other two passengers. Both Kaguya and Salamandine are now hugging each other, their faces as pale as sheet. Hikari looked at the vomit bag, it's full but… "Just throw up. (koff) It'll make you feel better. (Koff)"

"…we… had… nothing… left…" Salamandine wheezed one word after another.

"You… are… the… worst… driver… on the planet…" Kaguya is still holding to her poor tummy.

"Now, now… at least I get us to our destination in one piece. (koff)" An unrepentant Hikari shrugged.

"Where are we?" Tien Zi timidly asked.

"Shanghai. (koff)"

Tien Zi and Salamandine blinked. "Wait… where!?" Salamandine shook off the last of her dizziness, she looked around and confirmed it. She's not imagining things, they just traverse across country in an eyeblink.

Kaguya was worried for a wholly different reason: they've just brought the Empress along, because assaulting the Eunuchs and their hired brawn is not a serious enough capital crime apparently, they also had to add kidnapping a royal to the list. Kaguya can't even begin to imagine the severity of the diplomatic complication that will arise from this. Just what you'll expect from Lacus' brand of 'my-way-no-holds-barred' whimsy. She knew her bestie is about to do something drastic when she set her mind to something… like that one time they broke into the morgue of the infectious disease ward so that Lacus can dissect corpses and learn the shape of each organs. But this…? This is magnitudes beyond those escapades.

To Tien Zi however… it felt like she had been tossed straight into the wonderland. In the Palace, everything is tidy, perfumed, warm, and spotless. But here… it's blisteringly hot, the streets are dirty, dust flying everywhere, trashes piled up in the corner, and this stench perforating the air – if it's not overly fragrant it's also repugnant… this is no longer the protected isolated world of the palace… this is the outside world. The outside world she had only seen in her dreams. "Where… are we?"

"As I've said. (Koff) Shanghai."

"But where in Shanghai?" Kaguya demanded.

"Oh." Hikari snapped her finger, and the Leraje nodded once before she began to vanish into nothing but a few magical sparks. "Well… it used to be the mansion of a pervert pedophile Mafia Lord who dosed countless girls into crack addicted prostitutes. (koff) That's why the environment is not exactly… pristine. (Koff)"

In times like this Kaguya had a hard time figuring out if Lacus was joking.

"But that was before we… I… neutered him and tossed him to a prison… now… (koff)" Hikari motioned with her chin. "Now it's just the biggest privately owned orphanage this side of the city. (koff)"

Tien Zi, Kaguya, and Salamandine blinked. When the last bits of the otherworldly chariot vanished, they were welcomed with what is clearly a giant mansion under refurbishment… but already it houses children of varying age, all of them eagerly helped the grownups shaping what will be their house. Their initially disoriented emotion rapidly warmed.

"Hikari-sensei!" A cheerful singsong voice welcomed them.

A pink haired girl a few years older than Tien Zi but obviously younger than Kaguya and Salamandine run towards them. She immediately ran towards Hikari and lovingly jumped at her, hugging her tightly. "I'm so happy to see you again."

"So am I. (koff) Setona. (koff) You look okay. (Koff)" Wasting no breath, Lacus tilt her head to Tien Zi.

That's when Setona noticed Salamandine, Kaguya and the very nervous Tien Zi. "And who is this?" Thanks to their wild ride, Tien zi's appearance is far from regal. All the accessories she wore as the Empress got tossed off along the way. Her hair is in complete disarray, her clothes are torn and covered in soot… and she stinks of vomit. Anybody asked and no one would ever have guessed this is the son of Heaven. Not that they would recognize her even if her royal garments are intact. Few ever had the privilege of actually physically saw the Empress ever since her 'reign' started.

Before Salamandine can answer, Hikari answered: "This is Tien Zi. She's my friend's little sister. And yes, she's an orphan, been living with only her older brother and sister for a very long while." Hikari nudged at a stunted Salamandine. "This is Sala, her older sister, and that's Kaguya, my old classmate and Tien Zi's only friend. Her brother is away on an errand and Sala is getting a bit too overwhelmed. I figure it's a good idea to bring her here. She needs more friends. Kaguya been doing her best but it's not enough anymore." Hikari shrugged closer to Setona: "She's been living in a rather isolated lifestyle… with some very 'bad uncles'… she rarely, if ever, had contact with others of her age."

Setona, daughter of a mob boss who nearly killed and raped her, immediately understood what Hikari was implying. She's not interested in knowing in detail what does 'bad uncles' mean, but she knew why Hikari brought her here. "I understand."

She smiled kindly at Tien Zi. "Come on Tien Zi. Come. Let's go meet your new friends." She gently took Tien Zi's hand and slowly led the timid little girl towards the other kids.

"Ummm…" Salamandine wanted to say something but everything seems to happen so fast. She only managed a weak nod to Tien Zi as Setona gently pushed her towards the other children.

"From what I understand… Tien Zi had the willingness to socialize." Hikari explained. She remembered that eating match with Kaguya. From there, she realized that Tien Zi is not as shy as she appears to be. She just needs the chance to build up her confidence. But she's surrounded by people vastly older and vastly more experienced than her and it unnerved her. She needs to socialize with someone with level playing field in mentality. "That's why I brought her here. (koff) Now, I think this goes without saying: don't any of you breathe a word about who she really is. She's just Sala's little sister here to spend the whole time until sundown when Xing Ke returned from work. (koff) Are we clear? (koff) Good. (koff)"

She didn't even wait for them to respond.

"My… goodness…" Salamandine felt faint after the first taste of Lacus' work ethics. And this is just day one. She dreads to wonder what she will come up next. "I understand completely why you do this. And I heartily approve… but… could you at least talk about this to me beforehand?"

"I was planning to do just that, but the situation at that time wasn't conducive. (koff) What's with armed killers right in front of the door and that pack of babbling, bumbling band of buffoons and baboons hounding at you. (koff) Kidnapping her seems to be the only feasible way out of the situation. (koff) And implying that I'm going to cook the Empress in the oven will make the report sound so unbelievable it'll take a while to figure out what happened. (koff)"

Salamandine can't even begin to imagine how exactly the doctor's brain worked that she arrived to that conclusion. 'I hope Brother don't get a coroner when he heard this…'

Against all odds… in Beijing…

"…let me get this right." Xing Ke groaned as he rubbed his temple: "The new doctor brought out a giant half human half horse abomination that distort castle walls and hallways and together with the ambassador of Japan kidnap the son of Heaven along with Salamandine and they plan to cook her in the oven. Is that right?"

When Xing Ke said it, the Eunuchs suddenly realized how moronic they sound.

Xing Ke sighed after concluding either he worked too hard or the Eunuchs were getting that desperate to besmirch Hikari. "Look. I'm busy right now. I don't have time for your jokes."

"This is not a joke-"

"If my sister and Kaguya-darren is with her, then she's as safe as she ever gonna be – wherever she is in this pri… palace. Now leave. I'm very busy." He pointed at the door. "Oh, and one more thing-"

The groaning Euncuhs who were about to leave paused midway.

"We've agreed. Your jurisdictional responsibility lies in administrative affairs, military is mine. That is to say only I had the authority to decide who is part of the Imperial Guard and who is not. Are we clear!?"

The Eunuchs winced and they sulkily left, leaving Xing Ke… and the rest of the Imperial Guards and Master Bull who managed to get to him before the Eunuchs regained consciousness and told him everything they've experienced.

"She said… she's looking for a furnace big enough for her to toss everyone in?"

"Yes."

"And Master Bull, you saw green fire erupted on the oven? And that she screamed Shanghai before she entered the flames?"

"Yes."

Green fire. Furnace. The name of a place. Xing Ke experienced that before. The Floo network. Had this been any other people, they would definitely be as confused as hell. "I see." But Xing Ke was able to connect the dots. "I understand the situation. Don't worry, as I've said, with my sister and lady Kaguya at her side, she'll be fine. Imperial Guards, thank you for bringing this to my attention. Return to your posts and await Salamandine's return. Master Bull? This will sound silly, but I think it'll do us good if we have every unused fireplace and furnaces barred and caged when not in use."

The audience left, and Master Bull merely nodded somewhat dumbly. But against all odds, Xing Ke's request does fit the logic of the current situation: if people can go into the furnace, people can most certainly get out from there.

The same conclusion also formed in Xing Ke's mind. This is an unexpected vulnerability. There's no proof that Hikari was the only one with access to floo powder. She's a witch. And the grand army of Zaft that's coming here will most certainly include many ranks of witches and wizards. Even with Floo network's shortcoming, a single warrior, the right kind, get sent through the right gate can change the course of the war.

He made an inward note about fortifying the magical defenses of the Imperial palace against more 'floo' intrusion. "Now how am I gonna explain this to the war council without looking like I was stressed out of my mind?"

Back to Shanghai…

"That's my bestie for you. Once she sets out to do something, she doesn't know how to hold back." Kaguya sighed as she rubbed her aching head. "And good luck trying to stop her because she'll just bulldoze her way through." And she might be able to do it. Oh wait. She just did.

Salamandine took a little longer to recover from her first floo travel experience. She was still on her knees, but it does give her a chance to get a better look at the situation at her eye level. The situation being, at how Tien Zi began to mingle with the other children. Of course, as can be expected, she seems awkward at first. A boy kindly offered a ball, and she looked like she didn't even know what to do. But a glance at the other children, and she learned quickly. Although… the little girl still looked somewhat confused as she stared at the ball in her hands and the expectant eyes of the other children.

Setona quickly came to the rescue. "Alright. Tien Zi, it's like this. Push!" She grabbed Tien Zi and showed her how it's done. And they pushed the ball to the air, and the kids received it and then push it back to Tien Zi awaiting hand. She caught it perfectly, much to her smile, and she quickly and happily tossed it back, this time without Setona's assistance. Her smile erupted when the ball landed perfectly on the other boy's hands. It wasn't long before Tien Zi eagerly joined the flow on her own and starts playing naturally with the other children.

Just the sight of how this setting fits her like glove let Sala recover quickly. "Still… I had to admit… she makes result."

"Yeah… that she did." Kaguya also smiled, but her weariness outweighed her happiness. "But I wish she could be more considerate to the consequences of her actions a little bit."

"Griping, griping, griping. (Koff) You know, I recall you were a lot less grumpy back in the academy. (koff)" Hikari tilted her head.

"That was then. This is now. I'm the ambassador of Japan for China. If word got out of a Japan shinobi kidnapped the Empress of China to be cooked in an oven, Japan China relationship will get sent back to the Samurai World War era! OR WORSE!"

"That will only happen if we didn't return the Empress in time. (koff) I already told them we will return her before sundown. (koff)" Hikari sighed. "Besides, if I know your network of spies, they should know about me already. (koff) Of all the shinobis they can disavow, I'm the easiest one to cut loose. (koff)" The scariest part about Lacus working ethics is that it's not like she doesn't understand the consequences of her outrageous actions. "You can just tell them I went renegade and all the usual stuff. (koff) I really couldn't care less. (koff)" She can just, at times, chose to not care.

"And what of me? If those fat baboons told Japan that I showed you the secret door, they'll pluck me out of my position as ambassador for breach of conduct!"

"If I recall, I only asked for a way in. (koff) I didn't ask you to reveal state secret or anything (koff)."

"GAAAAAAAAAHHH! Oh my God! Hikarii! You're way, way worse than ever! Even worse than when we're at the academy!" Kaguya scratched her hair in desperation. She finally chose to collapse on her back on the ground in exasperation. "You're always like this, even when you're a Genin. In the academy you literally bullied the teachers to let you skip everything and just studied what you want, when you want!"

"Eh? B… Bullied? The teachers?" Salamandine blinked nervously.

"Ararara. (koff) Now that's not very nice thing to say. (koff)" Hikari bent her head down to look at her downed friend in the eye. "You make it sound like I'm some kind of a delinquent. (koff)"

"It's not sound like, you are a delinquent, after a fashion. At times you seem so ignorant on everything, but on the things you want to do, you'll charge your way through and ignore everything else, even common sense. You've bullied every teacher in the academy just so that you can pick subjects that strike your fancy! And even then, sometimes you stopped halfway when you were bored! Half the teachers in the academy cried every time you land in their classes! Remember armament class? You bypassed the basic class to enter that class and even then you were only there for like… a week… and then you asked to be transferred."

"No, no. I did no such thing! I specialize! (koff) I already told them from day one: I don't want any combat skills or jutsus! (koff) I want healing, healing, healing, nothing but healing jutsus! (koff) I need to learn the basics of course, like the kind of weapons and the wounds they inflicted, but I don't need to learn how to throw kunai or shuriken – (not in depth anyway)! (koff) Besides, that armament class was boring! (koff)"

"When the teacher asked her to give proof that she can skip armament class, she made a kunai out of strings… and it was the size of an office building. She dropped it right on top of the targeting range, nearly crushing the whole academy in the process!"

"I hit the target didn't I? (Koff) That instructor told me to hit 12 bullseye with one kunai, it was obvious he was setting me up to fail. (koff)"

"He's a teacher! He had his own dignity to consider!"

"What good is dignity when you have a broken spine!? Or a severed arm!? Or a diarrhea? Or… Or… (Koff)"

"In short, sister, you have been officially labeled as the worst delinquent student ever to grace the class in the history of the Ninja academy!"

"I don't want to hear that from you! (Koff) You established a gambling den in our room! (Koff) And don't get me started on your bootleg alcohol black market!(Koff)"

"Oh, Ho, ho! And what about you and your dirty manga collection!? You went and smuggle a lot of pretty crazy stuff yourself! Well? Miss Adult Manga Trafficker!?"

Lacus blushed furiously. Oh, how she rued the day she asked Kaguya about a book to learn about human copulation. "It was for research purposes! Besides, not just the other students bought it, some of the teachers too! You bought them! You read them! And I at least was sensible enough not to read it in PUBLIC! Why, you used the money from that porn manga trafficking to trade in illegal alcohol into academy grounds!"

"Eh, big deal! I've graduated now, I can drink all the alcohol I want!"

"No, no, no, you're 17. (koff) The law in Japan says you can only drink alcohol when you're 21! (Koff) Don't the three sins of Shinobi: Money, Women (or men, in this case), and Alcohol means anything to you!? (koff)"

"In summary…" Salamandine decided to interject. "Neither of you are a very good role model for the children."

Hikari and Kaguya finally stopped arguing for once to notice an apprehensive Salamandine watching and Setona was standing protectively in front of a flock of children (Tien Zi included), all of their innocent ears had just listened intently to all sorts of bad examples (Exciting things) they shouldn't (should) be doing when they grow up.

Hikari and Kaguya looked at each other, and then to the children and then nodded in realization of their sins and of their too loud of a voice: "No. We're the worst. We're bad eggs down to the bone. Don't do this at home, children!"

And the children innocently went back to their playing, but too little too late: the seeds of corruption have been planted in their innocent little hearts. The world had been made just a little worse place to be.

Setona and Salamandine merely chuckled nervously. Neither was expecting Hikari, the Renegade and Heroic Doctor to coalesce with the image of Hikari the Delinquent Porn Manga Smuggler… But then again, this makes her seem more believable… more human, so to speak. "I really didn't expect that kind of history from the both of you." Salamandine laughed nervously as she helped Kaguya up. But perhaps she should've. Geniuses and prodigies sometimes don't think in the same breath as normal people – that's how they achieve greatness. "Especially you, Hikari-daifu!"

"Et tu? Sala-san!"

Kaguya nodded. "She doesn't learn anything much about other things, pretty much do whatever she wanted in school… but in any subject she invested at least half a mind in, she's second to none. She's every teacher's worst nightmare: incandescently brilliant but utterly uncontrollable. Except to one. The one who brought you into the academy in the first place. If I recall correctly that person was the only one who can keep you on a short leash!"

Hikari smiled uneasily behind her mask. The cheerful silly atmosphere from before immediately vanished. "…did he know? Did he know what I've become?"

"…" Kaguya bit her lips. "Yes. And what happened afterwards too."

Hikari tucked her head down, her heart heavy with regret. Did he regret ever having a student as stupid as her…?

Even under the armor, it was obvious the good doctor is in sorrow. She had been told about the terrifying poison within her, which was born from a mistake in her training. Such a thing is not uncommon among Kung Fu warriors. The lucky ones died quickly. The unlucky ones, like his brother, suffered slowly. "Hikari-daifu's teacher?" Salamandine's eyes glowed with interest as she tried to direct the conversation away from the gloomy topic.

"Hikari's entrance to ninja academy was a bit unique. She didn't enroll on her own; she was brought in and introduced by one of the teachers. A medic ninja of incredible fame and skill. And of course we were thrilled." Kaguya excitedly explained: "I mean… even kindergarten knew that guy: he was the last word in medical science. And this guy acknowledges a 5 year old girl as a rare talent! And there she was: the unassuming but somewhat cocky girl who then proceeds to tear the ninja academy apart for 2 years."

"You know what Kaguya!? (koff)" Hikari's glare said: really?

"But then… on the beginning of her third year, her sensei told her to stop. He even sent her back home for what… two years? But he didn't return for quite a while… We first thought you got kicked out."

Hikari scoffed. "Well… kind off… And I do resent being called cocky! (koff) I'm not cocky at all! (koff)"

"You aren't now." Kaguya kindly stated. "But you were back then when you first started. I do remember you were gone for at least two years, because during those two years I missed my favorite test subject terribly-"

"One of these days, Kaguya… One of these days…" Lacus smile is reaching dangerous levels.

"…and I remember how different you were when you came back." Kaguya smiled kindly at Hikari. "You never told me what happened?"

"Well… plenty of things. (koff) Not all of them very nice: I nearly got killed by a drunk, blade swinging immortal with a Multiple Personality Disorder, I found out my family had gone bankrupt, my sister nearly got her head chopped off but settled for her hair, I crippled my own arms… so… eh… nothing much. (koff)"

Kaguya and Salamandine twitched. "Okay. I regret asking that."

"Too late. (koff)" Lacus stifled behind her mask. "Shishou brought me out of the academy to deal with my first life human patient. (koff) It was a… kid. (Koff) Just my age at the time. (koff) He was dying. (Koff) There was… some kind of explosion… a quarter of his body was frozen solid. (Koff) If you ask me what kind of explosive device whose explosion can freeze people instead of burning them, I can tell you I don't know. (Koff) But… one look and it was obvious to me that he was beyond my help. (Koff) Emphasis on 'My.'" Lacus made the quotation mark. "But Shishou told me to save him. And not just save him… I had to make sure he walks out 100% - in one piece – no amputation. Otherwise, he will kick me out of the academy."

"So… you did save him? I mean… you did return to the academy eventually…"

"I didn't." Hikari sighed. "Shishou did most of the work. (Koff) Before you wonder, he was joking about the expulsion thing. (Koff) but for my failure to heal him, Shishou had me suspended. (Koff) Shishou saved the boy, he survives… but… he wasn't exactly in a good condition per se. (Koff) He could barely walk, he could barely talk… he was a mess… Bu~ut Shishou said he is recovering… People with powerful healing factor is not unheard of, but it take time. (Koff) So he assigned me the task of monitoring the patient's progress until he fully heals. (Koff) Then, and only then, will I be allowed to go back. (Koff)"

Kaguya and Salamandine nodded. "…so that's why it took you so long to return?"

"Well that and… (Koff) I lost track of him as soon as he smuggled himself out of the hospital on day one."

Kaguya gaped. "You LOST him. YOU!?"

"Yes. As unbelievable as it may sound. I lost him. It took me 6 months before I found him again by chance when I sneak a visit to my sister."

Kaguya's eyes twitched. The Clynes are one of the most fool proof sensor Logia on the planet. To disappear from their detection is no small feat. "How did he manage to do all that when you said he's a boy who can barely walk!?"

"When I found him again… that's when I found out he wasn't JUST a boy."

0000000 8 Years earlier… 0000000

Lacus watched calmly as the small miniature cloaked figure are struggling to walk through the snow. The way he stubbornly stumbled forth the snow elicits some amusement.

Winter Wonder Land. Such is how most visitors would call this country. And its citizen proudly embraced this calling as well.

More snow are falling from the sky, covering his dark cloak with droplets of white particle. But then, it seems he already notice that one thing about Februarius snow.

"Euh… the snow here is… warm… all the sudden? But… a while ago it was cold… So it's true." Noir shrugged. "The atmosphere around here is a bit… whacky?"

"I prefer to call it unique." Lacus chuckled. Februarius is a winter climate continent, with snow falling for 9 whole months with only three months of summer. So a continent sized spell was erected back in the day to adjust the temperature of the snow to a just right and fit condition for each visitor.

"So… lady Clyne." Noir glanced at her.

"Ara, I prefer if you just call me Lacus." Lacus chuckled sweetly.

"I dare not. Lord Yuki told me that… someone had offered to house me during my stay here? I assume that was you?"

"Well, yes." Lacus smiled. "Whatever you need, even beyond food and lodging, all you have to do is ask, and the bill is footed. No strings attached."

"Am I the only one who finds that VERY hard to believe?"

"Trust issues." Lacus nodded. "Wow. Even worse than I've heard."

"Heard from who?" But Lacus ignored that question. Lord Yuki had given her a brief summary of Noir's psychological profile. At least… just the important points that he was allowed to disclose anyway. Now she kinda understand why this crippled boy, half dead and frozen as he is, can sneak past under her watch.

Mental capacity that was trained and educated to be vastly superior to those many times his age, IQ that redefine metrics, mental discipline forged by superhuman willpower… Like an adult trapped in an infant body. Sounds more like a freak of nature than a superhero, in Lacus opinion.

"But… you have to understand." C.C. tried to explain anyway. "Februarius is a completely different place with that of Aprillus. You'll see. There's a reason why Februarius is the so called model of peaceful country."

"You will forgive me for doubting that."

"You'll see." C.C. replied. "Now, come on. Unless you like being buried under all this snow."

"Where are we going?"

"Gateway City." Gateway City, the largest city in the continent, and the capital of Februarius. And famed for its… peculiar population. C.C. starts walking. "It's just a short walk over that hill."

"Okay." And so they walk, leaving a trail of plowed snow behind them and it was a chance for Lacus to observe her honored guest in greater detail. Well… what little she can glean anyway…

Back then, she had no idea who this patient really is safe for the most difficult case her master had given her. One that was clearly set up to fail.

She remembered seeing him once… and only once. And back then… dear God… he was a mess. Half his bones were frozen… as brittle as ice! One wrong move and his skeleton will turn to dust! After which the splinters will mince his blood veins and muscles… the fact he's still alive long enough to receive treatment was a miracle. And now she found him again… and to see him walking… after THAT…

'Shishou is really an incredible doctor to be able to patch him up.' But… seeing is one thing… just because he can walk again doesn't mean he's all better… right? Lacus frowned, trying to use her Advanced ears to check this patient's vitals, as was her MO.

All she found was a mess of vital signs. His heartbeat was chaotic – sometimes flatlining, sometimes a mile a minute, sometimes calm and steady… his breathing pattern was even more confusing. Long, short, deep breaths intermingled. For a moment, Lacus inwardly panicked… was his condition really THAT bad? But then, she looked closer and then compared what she visually see with what her ears sensed… Wait… something's weird. The sound of his breathings and the actual physical movement of his breath didn't match at all. Lacus had studied enough to know the sound a muscle should made when a person walked. And the sound she heard and the sound Noir supposed to make as he walked was in disharmony!

'Wait… Arara… Oh I see… that cloak…' Lacus switched senses from her bloodline limit, to the magical sight. And she finally see it. A very, VERY powerful spell of confusion and illusion was cast on the black cloak he wears. It distorts all his vital signs and physical attributes. She suspects some voice changing spell as well. No expense was spared to make sure that no one, and absolutely no one, can perceive or identify anything about the man beneath this garb. Now she finally understands how this boy can disappear from her detection for 6 months despite her efforts.

If what she heard is right, the Circle is a very secretive organization. C.C. was an oddity, but all its members, the Judges, had their identities kept secret under a very tight lock and they threw away the key, with no half measures taken to keep it that way. Very few people knew the true identity of its members. Point in fact, the only one whose identity was quite clear to everyone was the Hakutenkun Ray Yuki, seeing he's the one who founded the organization. But then again no one would dare to cross a Hakutenkun. But other Judges was a different story altogether. And they dealt with some of the most brutal criminals the Empire has ever known. Bribe. Blackmail. Hostage. The sort of crooks they face has no qualms to use this against them if they know who they are. To protect the person behind the Judge safe from all that, they had to keep their true identity a secret. That's why she lost sight of him. His vitals when he was on the table was distorted by the cloak into a completely different bio-signature, rendering his true identity unrecognizable to all manner of sensors, even hers.

Speaking of identity… Lacus had seen HIS face once… hasn't she? Back then when her sensei operated on him, it was mask off operation, obviously… The Princess can feel her brows knitted together as she tried to jog her memory… No good. She can't remember. His face was too much of a mess! Plus, she was too focused on her sensei instead of the patient. She wished she had remembered his face better. But… maybe she shouldn't? 'Ohh… silly Lacus, you should've paid better attention! Hm?'

Well… she can't sense his vitals… but she can at least observe from what she can actually see. Starting with his height. Wait… his height? Apart from his scary outfit… he's actually… kinda short isn't he? Lacus is slightly taller than him… Ray Yuki provided some data on his psychological profile but didn't include his actual age… Could he be that smart and mature and yet younger than her, that seems unlikely… but… wait… could he be a dwarf? '…sigh… what's the point of asking all these questions?' Lacus felt her head get slightly heavier. Just by looking at this black figure she get a thousand questions she won't get anywhere near answered any time soon. It was then Lacus realized there was only one question she should've asked. "…are you… okay?"

"What do you mean?"

Why didn't she notice this earlier!? He's trailing behind! Far behind! Lacus grew up in this place, so she's used to the weather and the environment… but he's a first time visitor! Knee deep in snow! His breathings a mess but in actuality she can see this large cloud of cold steam puffing out above his mask with every pant. It may be just a short walk… but… it's a struggle with his knees are buried deep in the snow… and of greater concern, the fact he was still injured… And he's supposed to be her guest of honor, for Merlin's sake. "I'll say again, are you okay? I mean… you seem to be having a hard time walking."

"I'm fine."

His tone was flat, firm, and precise. But… Lacus can sense it was more discipline than fortitude. He's having trouble, obviously, walking in such thick soft snow… but he refused to let it show. "Okay… this… might help." Lacus gently swiped her hand. Noir looked down and saw his shoes glowed slightly. "Now… try to walk out of the snow normally… like you're climbing a stair."

"Huh?" Noir tilted his head in confusion…

"Okay… let me show you." Lacus swiped her hand on her own legs as well. And then she start stepping up. Like she said, like climbing a stair. Her foot felt like they step on a solid ground. And then slowly, she climbed up and up, until, she's no longer knee deep in the snow, but rather standing right on top of the snow. "There! See? Easy peasy!" She demonstrated further by jumping up and down the snow, and the snow didn't break apart under her weight. Noir nodded in understanding and he easily copied her. As soon as he stood atop the snow, he looked down at his glowing soles of his boot with interest.

"I've heard tales of the wonders of arcane magic… magic used not for war or destruction… but pacified and domesticated for this kind of miscellaneous usage. It's… interesting."

"Tee-hee… Nifty isn't it?" Lacus chortled sweetly. "Now come! The city is just ahead!"

Once they cleared the hill, Lacus allowed Noir to finally get full view of the city.

First glance, it's like any city. With walls, towers, and the sprawling structures circulating around the center of the city. Outer ring composed of villages and farm, and as you go deeper, straw huts replaced with brick walled houses, and deeper still, you get marble walled citadels. So far, so normal.

But at the center of the city, that's where things get abnormal. Noir immediately directed his attention to the center of the town. In the normal city, usually, at the center of the town is the Keep or Castle of the Governor who ruled the city, and it became the centerpiece of said town, as a center of governance. In case of the Gateway City' centerpiece… in lieu of some grand castle was this pillar of Aurora reaching high up to the sky, erupting from a mass of light on the ground, situated inside a specially constructed grand wall, encircling the unearthly phenomenon. And at the center of that encirclement… a giant articulate gate, ornate and magnificent, dwarfing even the walls around it and made more ephemeral with the fact of how the building seem to stand on a ground made purely out of light. Throngs of people, like ants when compared to the immensity of the Gate, walked in and out its doors in their hundreds. "…Is that… what I think it is?"

"The Gate." C.C. answered short, and Noir nodded in understanding. "Come."

As expectedly, as soon as they entered the otherworldly city, Noir's head couldn't stop moving. He saw people walking about. That's normal. But then… he saw tiny blue skinned people barely higher than three apples wearing white hats and pants walking about in-between his feet. He saw old people, bearded and wrinkled, obviously older than him but barely higher than even his short stature walking about. Then he saw children as tall as rooftops, walking about. Half human half animal creatures walking about. Men with the head of wolves, woman with the lower half of snake, even children that looked like a cross with cats walking about. Lacus chortled. She may not be able to see his look or sense his heartbeats, but she imagined the good judge wished he had more eyes than the pair already serving him so well for so long to see all these new wonders. For him, everything was bright and new. He looked like an innocent child where everything seems so exciting.

But… the Noir that walked through the gates of the famous Gateway City was not an innocent child. Try as he might not to, Lacus noticed his gaze instinctively turned to the darkest corners of even this radiant city. Whatever on earth he's looking for in there?

"So… where are we going from here?"

"Let's just first go to the place where you'll be staying, yeah?"

"…? Shouldn't we first report to the Marshal?"

"Nope."

Despite Noir's apprehension, C.C. and Lacus completely ignored his silent protest and dragged him across the city, away from all the sparkling spires. They took him to a more verdant area of the city. It's a lake, with a small island right in the middle of it. Atop the island is a house. A small cabin made of wood. Not larger than life or glamorous than most of the structures he's seen in Aprillus… but there's… something in its rustic simplicity that appeal to everyone's liking, even Noir. At the background there's this lush thick forest mountain overlooking the small cabin at its base.

"That's where I'll be staying?" Noir looked intently at the wooden cabin, he failed to notice she and C.C. lifting up all these peculiar objects over their heads, preparing to pounce.

"Yep." And before Noir can say anything, the two girls strikes.

"Hey what the…"

It happened quicker than the Judge can finish his sentence. All he knew is, by the time the world stop spinning and his eyes refocused, his whole body is now stuffed inside a giant bird suit. A bird kigurumi suit. He looked just like that massive fluffy costumed animal character one usually sees during circus and carnivals. The whole thing is bulbous and fluffy. The feathers on his head and the frontal half of his body are mostly white, with a plume of black and red on his chest, and the remaining rear half is also black. His arms are way longer than normal, the whole thing essentially even longer than his body, its elongated fingers lay helplessly on the ground. The oversized arms are essentially a pair of flabby black and blue wings with five stuffed puffy 'feathers' on each limb to serve as his oversized fingers. His orange legs are now stuffed webbed foot. And his head encapsulated in a giant bulbous bird head with thick beak and beady eyes. Over his beady eyes are two pairs of yellow feathers, a pair serving as his brows for each eye. "…C.C.-san? Lady Clyne… What is this?" By the gods, even the beak opened and closed following his actual lip movement!

"What? You don't like it? Ray said you liked birds?" C.C. chuckled.

"But this is taking things too far!" Noir roared inside the bird suit. Heck, even his voice changed! It become childishly high pitched.

"First of, watch your language. Where you'll be staying, such language is not welcome, considering your housemates." Lacus raised a finger.

"I… see…" Noir nodded. "But… why the bird clown suit?"

"Your 'housemates…' aren't the types who can stomach your… fashion sense." Lacus replied calmly.

"…huh?"

"I've heard the stories. The people in Aprillus nicknamed you the Reaper Judge, so you decided to look the part, to play on their superstition. But… as you'll soon see… you don't need that sort of thing here."

"Eh… I'm gonna say this again for posterity… Huh?" The Judge looked like he's still confused…

"Just watch." Lacus dragged the still stunted Noir to the boat. It floated on its own without paddler and carried the passengers swiftly to the shores of the island. Upon arrival, C.C. called out. "Children! Come out!"

"Eh?"

One by one, they came out. Children. Noir shrugged in understanding for once… but then he realized something's off. That cabin was small. No more than 5 kids can live there… and yet he counted 30 just walked out of the door. "…This… this is… an orphanage?"

"Yes." He did well to cover his surprise.

"Okay…" Now Noir seem to be more accepting of this new suit. His original suit would've scared the children away. And he really needs to watch his language. Lord Yuki did told her he's been spouting too much profanity as of late. "Um… hello…" His tone was quite flat and robotic.

The children are still terrified.

He looked at her. Lacus can only ball both of her fists and gave him a look of encouragement. "Try to sound cuter!"

"Ah… hello… Torii." He changed his tone and speech pattern a bit, and even gave them a rather clumsy wave, for good measure.

The children, as expected, went wide eyed with awe. They start to approach him slowly. And they all quickly rushed towards him en-masse. They start pulling and pushing, some even start biting… "Okay… Torii… calm down, Torii… calm down… take it easy… take-WHOAAAAAAA!" And Bert collapsed on his back, and the children wasted no time swarming allover him. "Waii!" "No!" "Yay!" "Wait!" "Yay!" "Slow down, slow-OOF!" A pack of kids dropped en masse right on top of his swollen belly and start jumping up and down in excitement. Noir screamed and cried as he was being pulled and squeezed to every direction, especially his still crippled arm. "Help… HEAAALP!"

"Alright stop that. Give him a break children." On Lacus' command, the children pulled away, revealing the crumpled dish rag that is Noir. "Ya~hooo. You still alive in there?" Lacus giddily poked at the half dead boy inside.

"…everything… hurts… Bert…"

"In any rate, children, this is… Bert." C.C. wisely decided the name Noir is also a name that is counterproductive. "He'll be staying with us for the duration. Be nice."

"Haaai."

00000008 years later0000000

Lacus stopped there. Kaguya gave her a stare. "What?"

"So… if I'm to surmise this… the top beat cop of Zaft made a proper fool out you, so your payback is to put him inside a big fat Kigurumi Bird suit." Kaguya raised an eyebrow. "…for the sheer heck of it and because it make him look cute."

"An oversimplification. That suit had many beneficial features-"

"And now here you are, trapped inside a suit that is just as stuffy. That sure screams karma to me."

Now that she think about it… "Hrrmph…"

"Why would you go to Zaft in the first place, daifu?" Sala asked.

Lacus chuckled. "I'm a doctor, Sala-san. I go where I'm needed, my responsibilities knows no national boundaries."

"Such is the privileges and responsibilities of Doctors and medics." Kaguya, a Medic nin herself, followed. "Orb may be an isolationist country, but that's no excuse for us to not honor our Hippocratic Oath." She winked at Salamandine. "Still, I won't tell if you won't."

Salamandine had to laugh. Of course she won't. "But this is… interesting. This is the first I've heard of Zaft's justice system. An extra judiciary agents trained specifically to deal with people with special abilities, Judges. Most of the time I've heard of Zaft… it was from those Eunuchs and they always made it like they're a country of backwater savages still living in the medieval eras."

"And you believe those dickless idiots?" Kaguya raised an eye.

"They're terrible story teller. Everything they said is easily classifiable as nonsense, even by Tien-Zi. But… if anything, it does make us… curious."

"Zaft's not perfect. (Koff) No country is. (Koff) But there are people living in it who try to make it better. (Koff) The Judges were people like that. (Koff)" Hikari frowned, before she added in a whisper. "Well… they're supposed to be… (Koff) Hm…?"

BOINK!

A ball hit the doctor squarely in the head.

"Ah!" The children stopped playing as they looked apologetically seeing their armored benefactor got hit in the head. Considering the throwers are wee children, the damage is hardly measurable, but that's not the point. Among the children, was the thrower, a very sweaty and flustered Tien Zi who looked in horror at what she had done.

Hikari merely chuckled as she held the ball in her hand. "Now… who's hungry? (Koff) I haven't cooked for a while."

An array of raised hands and excited faces answered the question.

"You can cook?" Kaguya earned a glare from Hikari. "I mean with you being in an armor and all…"

In the kitchen… "…what's in the larder, Setona-chan?"

"Not much. Just eggs, rice, some ketchup, salt… and we got some cabbages."

"Then we're making omu-rice." Hikari easily concluded as she snapped her finger, unleashing some magic sparks, and then, the ingredients start moving on its own. Eggs flew out of the cupboard, cracked themselves into the bowl before a beater flew in and start whisking the yolk.

"Oh… right… I totally forgot you're a witch." Kaguya nodded.

"Wow… so this is the arcane magic I've heard so much about?" Salamandine looked in interest as she watched a knife magically flew up and start dice cutting some onions that floated up in the air.

"Ah… just stretching some muscles I hadn't used in a long time. (koff)" Lacus twirled a finger and a rice seeds flew up and magically turned into puffing white rice mid air. But then, her ears caught something… She looked back and saw Tien zi peeking with sparkling eyes. But when she realized Lacus noticed her, she quickly hid back. But the way her heart beats really showed her excitement. "…Tien Zi-chan… are you interested in my cooking or in my magic? (koff)"

Tien Zi peeked back in to see Sala and Kaguya smiling kindly at her. "But… but I can't use magic…"

"Being able to cook and being able to use magics are two different and separate things. (koff)" Lacus puffed. "My magic is just like this knife. (Koff) A tool I used to cook. (koff) If I don't know what I'm doing, it doesn't matter if I can use magic or not. (koff) Personally I'd rather do this with my own two hands, but given the circumstances… (Koff) So… I'll ask again… are you interested in cooking or in magic?"

Tien Zi nodded. "Cooking."

"Well thank goodness. (Koff) I may or may not be able to help you with the latter, but I can most certainly help with the former. (Koff)"

Salamandine smiled warmly. "But, Your high-errmm…" she earned a look from Hikari. Right. Need to keep her identity a secret. "Urm… little sis… don't you think you need some rest? You've been moving quite a lot-"

"If anything, I'd say Tien Zi hadn't moved enough! (koff)" Hikari asked Tien Zi: "Now, is there anything in particular that you want to cook? (koff)"

Tien Zi thought for a bit… then her eyes landed on the cabbages lying in the corner. "…the soup…"

"Ah-haa! But of course! Kira-darren's clear cabbage soup. Do you want to make that, Tien-zi?" Salamandine clapped her hands.

"Well, it's not very hard to make, but it does require some precision. (koff) Sala, Kaguya, you two help her. (koff) I'll dictate the recipe. (koff)" She snapped her fingers and the mixed yolk flew out of the bowl, and with a twirl, a few more eggs were poured in. "Kaguya, you can start by deboning the chicken and made a stock using its bones, and Sala-chan, once the chicken is deboned, you can mince the chicken until it turn to paste. (koff) Tien-zi, if you want to help, you pick up the cabbages and start peeling them bit by bit. (koff) Choose the best okay? (koff) We want to use the core of the cabbage. (koff)"

Everyone nodded and do their assigned task. Unlike the imperial kitchen, there are only cheap poor ingredients here. The chicken was thin and tough, while the cabbage is starting to smell. But everyone just nodded off, they have to do the best they can with what they have. "Boil the chicken bone long and nice so that you can get a nice broth. (koff) Kaguya, watch the broth and tell us when its ready, Tien Zi, peel the cabbages until you get to the core of the cabbages. (Koff) Use needle to poke holes on them, but don't damage the overall look. (koff) Sala-san please chop those chicken until they're fine paste. (koff)" Meanwhile, even as Lacus gave instructions to the other girls, she was carefully tending to her own cooking. "Lily, go check if you still have some maple syrup left…?"

"Maple Syrup? Why on earth you need maple syrup for…?" Kaguya raised an eyebrow.

"Focus on your broth, Kaguya! And Salamandine, once the chicken is minced, mix them with broth and let it simmer. Now, in the original recipe, Kira didn't put in much seasoning. But, this isn't the imperial kitchen, and the ingredients is not as good as the royal pantry. Thankfully, I have some spices that you can use. You go ahead and help yourself, use it as much as you like, but please… unlike a certain spice addicted hot-head, use them with moderation, please?" Lily opened her mouth and just like that, bottles of spices poured out of her gullet. "Ah, and while you're at it, Lily, the maple syrup? (koff)"

Tien zi, even while doing as she was told, watched everything happening around her with great interest. Salamandine had poured the chicken paste into the broth and she let Tien Zi to mix the chicken with the soup. Do it until the oil is floating on the surface and the minced chicken depress to the bottom of the broth, the doctor said. She may also took a taste of the chicken broth… it taste a little… weird? But then, the doctor brings out spices… to help with the flavor…? 'So… I just put these in… hmmm… how much…?' For reference, she looked at how Hikari worked.

Lily the pink Haro spit out a bottle of thick brown liquid, the aforementioned maple syrup, and with a snap of Hikari's finger, its content sprayed evenly across the streaming yolk. "And then add some salt and pepper…" Another flick, and the bottles containing salt and pepper floated up and sprinkle gently across the streaming yolk.

Now, obviously, Tien Zi can't do magic like Hikari, but she get that the amount needs to be in 'moderation' as the doctor said. And so she did it just so. Salamandine and kaguya looked like they were about to help… but then they caught a small gesture from the good doctor, who shook her head.

"Let her be a child for once." She whispered. "She's been cooped up in a life unsuitable to her age. With all the responsibility and duty for breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost all her life. Let her… act her age, for once."

"You do understand if she messed up that soup, it'll be up to us to finish it all?" Kaguya of course joked.

"Eh… I've seen worse damage done on a kid being forced to grow up too quickly."

00000008 years earlier0000000

After another deep breath, he entered the cabin. He peeked inside briefly before popping his bewildered head back out. He looked at the building's exterior just to make sure he wasn't imagining things and even look at her, again, as if asking if he's still sane. Lacus chuckled and nodded at him. Giving a silent reassurance that he's not crazy or hallucinating. "I know, right? Go on in! I'm right behind you!" And so he turned around and, taking a deep breath, plunged back into the abyss of the cabin's door. Lacus followed suit with much less of a hassle.

Once she joined her guest of honor, she notice Noir's jaw, not for the first time since he arrived here, slacked open. The interior is the same as the exterior, made entirely of wood… but the size. Outwardly it's a cabin barely standing, inside, it's a multi storey manor with a very simple and sturdy construction! This place is… HUGE! Each floor had multiple quarters, more than enough to give every child their own room. And forget the dozens that showed up earlier, there are hundreds of them here! "W… Wha…"

"Ararara! Please close your beak. Flies might flew in." Lacus pushed Noir's beak shut. But try as she might, the beak slacked open every time. The person inside was that shocked.

"This… this… this is…"

"You're speechless. Don't worry. You'll get used to it soon." C.C. snorted.

And then someone clapped hands, drawing everyone attention. "Everyone! Supper!" That was a chubby woman in a maid uniform. A very gentle smile matched her motherly wide face, creating an amusing but friendly visage that matched her pitched friendly voice.

"Madame Hufflepuff!"

"Oh my, Mademoiselle Clyne, welcome back!" Lady Hufflepuff bowed courteously as she lifted her skirt. Then she looked at the giant kigurumi bird behind her and chuckled: "Might this be…?"

"Noir-Kyun, this is Madame Helga Hufflepuff. She's the head of the orphanage."

"At your service." Helga bowed once again, and Noir returned the courtesy.

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Not at all. Come, sit! We're about to serve supper!"

The children quickly gathered on the massive table. And Noir still had his jaw slacked open, but now he had enough sense to close it, with his own hand as he had to. Lacus had to resist laughing out loud at his antics. Boy, he was getting overwhelmed by only this much? They've barely started the tour!

"Enjoy your meal!" Helga snapped her fingers.

They just appeared right out of thin air: baskets of bread, piles of pancakes and pastries, every kind of jam, layer upon layer of bacon, chains of sausages, spit roasted meat, beans, hash, mushroom, eggs, fishes… If it's edible, you name it, they got it… and in absolutely absurd amount. At this point, the poor bird clown had all but given up keeping his beak closed. He just stood there stupefied seeing more food than he had probably lay eyes upon just overflow before his agape mouth.

Lacus watched his confusion with concern… and then it hit her. The boy is still injured inside. He only had one arm… and that flabby fingers would give him no end of trouble to eat. So… what's the solution?

"Anoo… Clyne-hime, can you please… eh?" As expected Noir turned to her to ask her to undo this irksome outfit, she found her smiling face. She had a better idea.

"Ok, Bert-kun! Aaan!" She lifted a fork, and on it is a piece of food she put together, and its hanging right in front of Noir's beak.

"Umm… if you would just… undo this… thing… I can eat… by myself…"

"No~o… I want you to eat it just like this."

"…"

"Ararara! You're blushing! How cute!"

"W… What? How do you know I'm blush…" Then he looked at his own reflection: the bird's head turned red, mimicking his blushing face. Great. Now his emotions are literally worn on his sleeve. "…um… look… I'm not very hungry. Besides I've eaten before I came here and I was watching my weight. So… C.C.-san what say we left everyone to eat for now and we report to the Marshall."

Noir insisted on making his report to Lord Marshall Slytherin. A formality and a responsibility, apparently. Seeing it in the only way to give the Judge his peace of mind, the two witches took the Muggle to his desired destination, magic style:

"Lacus, get the brooms."

"Haaai!" Lacus raised her hand excitedly.

"Broom?" Noir blinked. "Wait… could it be… that legendary…"

Not long after, the fact they're soaring in the sky sitting on brooms answered Noir's question. They really are flying. In the sky. Riding a broom! C.C. was riding her own broom, sitting sideways, whilst Noir had to sit behind Lacus as he piggy backed her broom. And they were not the only one. In the ephemeral sky of Februarius, they saw many more people flying in the sky through various means: some are riding brooms, others are using shoes or sandals with wings, some hanging by an umbrella, some sitting on flying carpets, and some even sport their own wings! This is so straight out fairy tale and fantasy books!

"Amazing isn't it?" Lacus chortled.

"Uh-huh…" In stark contrast from before, Noir was less surprised even as they soar through the skies.

"Hmmm? Is there a problem? Do you not enjoy flying?"

"Well… no… I… I like it. Very much, surprisingly. I like it as much as the next person. It's just… well… if only flying like this can be done outside Februarius, then I'll be even more impressed." Noir shrugged.

Bullseye.

Flying brooms, flying carpets, they've been around quite a while. Aerial power is one of the most powerful assets available to a mage… and it's been the dream of mankind since time immemorial to fly in the sky. The only problem is, only Mages can do it… and even then such a thing is only accomplishable in the unique atmosphere that is Februarius. Mages cast spells utilizing Ether Mana that exist in the atmosphere. Within every Mages exist what is called Magic Circuit. In the nutshell, when a mage cast a spell, the process always starts with the Mage accumulating the needed Ether Mana from the environment into their circuit, change it, mold it into the spell they want and then unleash its effect back to the environment. This is the fundamental difference between Arcane Magic and Jutsu of Shinobis and Samurais: Jutsu utilize chakra that exists internally within themselves, whilst Arcane Magic came from external Ether mana flowing out in the atmosphere. Another difference is that while chakra utilizes both spirit and physical stamina of the user, for Mages, utilizing Ether mana from external environment crop up mental exhaustion that weighs a mage's brain. Mages would usually describe it as something ranging from a hangover at the least… to a (sometimes literal) head splitting headache with blood pouring out of facial openings on the side at the worst – a sign of brain damage. The more mana utilized, the greater the burden.

Now, the flying spells is essentially a low tier spell – it requires a small amount of mana to be activated at first. But it is a spell that must constantly be fed with mana so long as it remains active. What's more, as the height increases, the amount of mana required increased exponentially. At the present, a normal mage can only get his broom to a 300 meter height at the most before their head start hurting and their nose began to bleed. And that was just the issue of going up and down. And then when one must talk about movement, speed, maneuvering, air resistance, gravitational pull, oxygen level, and etc, and etc… and as the amount of spells needed to manage all that factors continue to crop up, one was left with a very mana consuming activity that is as inefficient as it is impractical on the field.

In Februarius, in Gateway City, due to the entire city being partially connected to the 'other side', it supported a very unique atmosphere: An ether mana rich environment. The amount of ether density in this continent is easily 10 times that of any other place on earth… except perhaps on a certain demon infested continent – where the ether mana density was even more so, but the demonic interference render it far too unstable to the point of being hazardous – not to mention the walking dead making it worse. But in a stable environment like Februarius, spells can be cast more easily due to the Mages having access to a denser and more stable mana stream. Higher level spells are less taxing, and the effects of even the simplest of spells were amplified to obscene levels sometimes to the point of defying the natural law. This is what allows mages who lives in Februarius to utilize powerful magics more easily. But, the catch is that many spells utilized so easily in Februarius became harder, if not unusable, anywhere else, such as flying all over the city with brooms or flying carpets, and etc, etc.

"Ararara. Barechatta, barechatta." Lacus simply laughed childishly. "He found out!"

"In here, Bert-kun, magic reigns supreme." C.C. explained. "The natural law gets bent up and they meant little in this place. Much less the laws of men, as you'll soon see."

"?"

The trip was all too short. They landed not on the front gate, but rather on the roof of Marshall's Keep, where a wizard guard the doors welcomed them and allowed the strange characters entry after some word from C.C. The meeting went… well… In Lacus very own description: they get a warmer reception in the arctic. It feels weird she was only one in that room who's actually rather annoyed by the tense atmosphere between her guest… and the Lord Marshall, but considering the parties involved, perhaps it is to be expected?

Balthazar Slytherin. The Lord Marshall of Februarius. Physically, an aging old man, literally almost a hundred years old. His head is now bald, his face full of scars of time, almost skull like, and his short roughly trimmed beard are all completely white. His body is rather thin, at first glance, with his skin are all shriveled, he looked so frail he's about to collapse… except for one thing:

Everybody knows he's the magic teacher of a certain Grand Knightmaster. And even now, he still is.

That is more than enough reason to shut out his detractors. And anyone with half a brain can understand that completely as soon as they met him face to face. His green eyes glowed brightly despite it being overshadowed by the sunken crevices of his brows. Forget his frail body, none who saw that eye would doubt his indomitable strength of will. The will that had kept watch to this unnatural city for decades. Even Lacus, who had her aversions to figures of authority feel compelled to show her respect to this aged and wizened being as she, and Noir lowered their heads and gave him the recognition fitting to his seniority.

And yet…

"Yo, Lit'l-Balty. How are you doing?" C.C. nonchalantly asked with a tone that any civilized person wouldn't dream of using in this situation. Noir had to glare at the green haired lady, questioning both her manners and sanity.

"Why you…!"

In response of C.C.'s disrespectful tone, a young man who stood next to the old man reacted angrily. He's a man in his twenties, with black beard that would soon form a goatee and full hair, but Noir can immediately notice some familial resemblance with the older man. But before the young man can do more, the older man silenced him with a glare. He looked back at C.C.'s laidback attitude and sighed. "Old hag, I don't mind you doing that in private. But I'd appreciate you show me a bit of a respect in front of others." Even his voice carries strength beyond his age.

C.C. laughed. In all Februarius, she's probably the only one who can get away with just that after calling Balthazar Slytherin with such a manner.

"As for you…" Completely ignoring Lacus, Balthazar glared straight at the awkwardly shaped Noir. His one eye pierced through the ridiculous clown suit and looked straight at Noir's lone functioning eye. "So… you're the kid I heard so much about."

Noir kept his silence.

"Hmm. Ray told me about you. Well… told me about as much as I care to know." Balthazar kept eying Noir, as if trying to get a measure of the boy. He sighed and said: "Boy. Act your age."

"!" Noir twitched. He defiantly raised his head at the old man.

"Eh? What? You don't like it?" The young man started. "You're a bloody muggle aren't you? I don't know what that fool of a knightmaster was thinking, sending a non mage Judge to a country filled with Mages, but as far you're concerned, you're just deadweight."

The arrogant man's tone was even more disrespectful than C.C., even Lacus was offended. "Ano-sa! Lord Yuki send him here to help!"

"Does it look like we need help?" The insolent man continued. "This is Februarius. Of all the continents in the Zaft Empire, this is the most peaceful of them all. I don't know what gutter you came from, but the last thing we want is troublemakers. So if you want to help, you can just disappear."

"Salazar!" That was a bit too much, and even Lacus was one breath away from exploding. Fortunately, Balthazar took the initiative and barked the disrespectful young man into silence.

The man, Salazar Slytherin was immediately unnerved upon seeing the angry glint in the older Slytherin's eye. "Forgive my son. He's desperately in need of some lesson in manners. Still… not everything he said is wrong." Balthazar Slytherin looked back at Noir. "I don't know what that idiot student of mine taught you about this place. But I can see that for all the stuff he had imparted, he had forgotten to teach you some of the basest of things. Maybe he feels it's too unnecessary or he wants you to figure it out yourself, I care not. You know nothing, boy. That's to say there's little you can do to actually help. So I'll just say this again: Act your age, boy."

"…" Noir didn't say anything. He merely gave the slightest of nods before he stood up and left without a word, much to Lacus' bewilderment. "Eh, we're done?" Lacus look back and fro between the departing clown bird and the old man, who did nothing to stop him. But then, C.C. merely chuckled and she also left and so Lacus immediately gave a quick polite bow before she followed her companions out.

"Eh… that went way better than I hoped." Contrary to everyone's beliefs, Lacus felt little to no rage in Noir's voice.

"You… know that was going to happen?"

"I don't expect a warm welcome. That was never one of Judge's perks." Noir snorted. But then he looked at C.C. "But still… What is it about this place that makes it so different with the other continents? Why… why did it become so… peaceful?"

"First, I think you already noticed: In here, Judges don't command the same respect they have in other continents. We're viewed no different than any normal law enforcement institution of the Empire. Probably even less, considering the relationship between the founder of the Circle and the old Marshall."

"Eh, I've heard." The story of how Lord Ray Yuki was Balthazar Slytherin's least favorite student was quite well known amongst the populace. Something about a disagreement in their ideals and point of views that result in their relationship are on ice for many years, neither are speaking to each other for a good long while… until now.

Clearly, Noir went into that meeting fully expecting he will be treated as such. But based on what everyone knows, Lord Slytherin the Sr. was never the type to let personal feelings to cloud his judgment – he of all people can surely see the worth of the Judges in general. "Lord Yuki briefed me on what to expect in this place… but…"

"The second bit… it's faster if I just show you. Lacus-chan come here."

Lacus immediately held back the premonition of something awful. "Yes?"

"Alright. Here's what we're going to do: the both you, play a game of paper rock scissors. By the Law of the Deep Magic, the loser must fulfill one request from the victor. Do both parties agree?" Suddenly, C.C. produced a small golden balance out of nowhere in her hand.

'Law of the deep magic?' And in that instant, Noir felt the air between him and Lacus just changed. "I agree."

"I agree." Lacus also nodded.

"Alright. Let's begin."

Jan. Ken. Pon! Lacus: Rock. Noir: paper. Noir won. "Okay? What's next?"

"As per the wager, you can ask Lacus to do one thing. Go ahead and ask." C.C. then approached Noir's ears: "Try asking her something she definitely wouldn't want to do! And… ask her to do it right now. Be VERY specific, word per word."

Lacus frowned, repressing a bad vibe. She's not sure she's going to like this order… but perhaps that is the point. Noir think for a second and then he just blatantly asked: "Okay. Take off your panties and show it to me… right now." Noir wasn't thinking about anything when he made that request. It was just a silly request he asked out of a complete whim. He didn't expect anyone would be stupid enough to do it.

Which is why he absolutely panicked when Lacus actually start taking off her skirt and was down to her undies in a heartbeat.

"W… WHOAA! WAIT A SECOND!? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Noir immediately stopped Lacus just as she was in the process of really taking off her underwear.

"What?" Lacus asked calmly with her expression remained flat. "You're the one who said you wanted me to take off my panties. Right now."

"I didn't think you're really going to do it!" Noir also noticed that while he tried his damndest to stop Lacus from taking off her panties, she exhibit an almost machine like strength that resist his, or any attempt, to stop her from doing what he asked. "…C.C.-san… could it be…?"

"Eh. Yes. That's exactly the point." C.C. explained calmly. "This is a world that exists in the boundary: half of it stays in the real world, the other half exist on the 'other side'. The laws of nature are out of whack. The laws of men worth even less. Even reason got beaten to a curb. But that doesn't mean there's no law that binds everything in here." C.C. showed the small balance in her hand to Noir. "The law of the Deep Magic. That is the absolute law that everyone in Februarius will follow… whether they like it or not." As C.C. explained this, Lacus had taken off her panties and shove it to Noir's face.

"There, happy?" She pouted.

Of course, Noir immediately give it back. "So… this is how it works?"

"What is the most prevalent reason crime exist? Because people break rules. People lie. People cheat. They disobey. They promise one thing and they do another behind your back. That sort of thing." C.C. explained as she motioned to the various fairy tale creatures flying about in the air: pixies, sprites, and the like. "The Deep Magic is a magic of the covenant. The omnipresent force that binds all who wield the power of ether I.E. Mages. There's no such thing as going back on your word in this place. Once a mage promised something to someone, or when an oath is sworn, under the deep magic, a mage cannot renege on what was promised. The deep magic will force them to obey. The trick is you have to know exactly what you're asking them to do. For example: just now, if you only asked Lacus to take off her panties without specifying exactly when and where should she do so, she could've showed you her panties a year from now, and that still counts as fulfilling her pledge. Clever mages can… postpone the binding force of deep magic… but they can't resist it. The bills… comes… due. And if you don't pay… a very heavy penalty will be demanded."

"But… you mentioned this works on Mages… and what about me? I'm a Muggle. I can't use ether or cast spells. Doesn't that mean I'm outside the Deep magic's influence? Like… if I had lost that Jan Ken Pon with Lady Clyne, she wouldn't be able to force me to do anything I don't want to?"

"Ara. Not so." Lacus had finished putting back her panties. "More specifically, the Law of the Deep Magic binds all who wield Magic Circuit in their veins."

"My point exactly. I'm not a mage-"

"An easy misconception. Just because you're not a mage, Bert-san, doesn't mean you don't have any Magical Circuit in you. Everything that exists in this world possessed Magical Circuit within their body. The difference between Mage and Muggle is simply in the amount and quality of the Circuit that exist within them. In Mages, they possess enough that their circuits can serve as an adequate vessel to pool Mana in their veins – so that they can cast spells with it. In Muggles, the amount is too little if not minute… but they exist. Even the slightest trace of Magical Circuit is still enough for the law of the Deep magic to affect them."

"There are three laws prevalent in this city: Don't kill, Don't steal, Don't lie." Lacus listed it with her three fingers. "As soon as one step into this continent, breathe its very air, the spell automatically engraved themselves into your very being. And from that moment on, the power of the Deep Magic binds you to obedience. It has been set that way since the time of the first Sorcerer Supreme, the first Wise King."

Noir nevertheless immediately understood the implication brought about by the power of the Deep Magic law. Agents of the law like Judges, Marshalls, and Wardens exist to enforce the law, to make sure they are obeyed and sometimes to prevent them from being broken. But… you can't break the law if that law literally, as in literally, forced you to obey them. All they had to do is to have every citizen of this country to promise to never break the law and presto: instant law abiding citizen. No crime can be committed because the concept of breaking the law doesn't even exist in this country. Lowest crime rate is an overstatement… because it's essentially zero.

No wonder a judge like C.C. can engage in her hedonism to the fullest without comprehending the first syllable of the word discipline. In a world with zero crime… law enforcers will have zero use.

"…then… what the hell am I doing here?"

"Having a nice, relaxing, vacation."

"…"

Lacus and C.C. are now dragging his half dead beak across the pavements all the way back to the orphanage.

As that day went on, it soon became obvious to Lacus… that her honored Guest doesn't quite enjoy the hospitality she's offering. It's not the matter of how it was less than adequate… more like… it's quite a bit more than he used to get. So much so that it freaks him out.

He was too nice to complain or made obvious of his displeasure. And in all honesty, Lacus made sure he had no reason to: he gets three square meals a day. And he can have seconds of any food he liked. And there's absolutely no way he didn't like the food. The matron of this orphanage is Helga Hufflepuff. The lady of the Hufflepuff house, a small noble family of little import – safe for the fact they a vassal family of the Clynes – was a chef who used to own her own restaurant. He got his own room, and a bed! With a blanket! What's more he can sleep for as long as he wished, and no one would splash him with water if he wants to be lazy in the morning.

When night falls and everyone immediately fell asleep, Lacus can still hear him rolling, twisting, and turning uncomfortably in his bed. When he finally stopped trashing, Lacus would soon realize it was because he had forgone bed and slept on the floor. What's more, while other kids would usually need to be dragged off their beds to wake up in the morning, Lacus would later found out he woke up before the sun was even up. She'd also like to add that this happened even with the fact last night he slept the latest.

She knew this… because on Noir's first night in his new accommodation, they had an unfortunate encounter with each other past midnight when she sleeps walks.

And to note: while sleep walking was a habit she thankfully outgrew later on… sleeping nude was a habit she picked up from her early childhood and never quite got over.

After the screams ended, the complaints immediately flooded in.

Helga had Lacus sit on her knees and reflects her actions. Noir was spared because he only reacted how any normal healthy young boy would given the circumstances.

"Mademoiselle Lacus, how many times do I have to tell you – put some clothes on when you sleep!" Helga sighed in exasperation.

"But I can't sleep with my clothes on!" Lacus moaned. "Besides, I'm not bothering anyone… am I?"

"It is a bother when you sleep walk!" Noir groaned. "Lord knows what will happen if some pedophiles or rapist came breaking and entering and they saw you walking about naked-"

"What's pedophile?" A kid asked.

"What's rapist?" Another kid asked.

"It's… argh… forget it." Noir grumbled as he slapped his face with his one functioning wing and sighed to the ground. He's been doing this a LOT. Especially when Lacus was involved.

But Lacus wouldn't be Lacus… if she did learn her lesson. In fact, it's about to get worse.

The next night, when Noir woke up earlier than everybody else, he was welcomed by a surprise: Lacus was 'sleepwalking' naked right his way. This time he didn't scream, and the poor judge quickly made it his duty to immediately guide Lacus back to her room… but by the Gods, that was easier said than done. He used his stubby fluffy wing to 'push' Lacus to the right direction… instead, she grabbed it and start holding on to it like a pillow. "Fuwaa… fuwaa… fluffy… fluffy…" She dreamily rubbed her blushing cheek against his soft exterior.

…and she won't let go.

With only one functioning arm weighed down by her weight, Noir can do little to unlatch the sleeping girl. Worse, he's not strong enough to drag her to her quarters. Come to think of it he didn't even know where her quarter is. "…I had no choice am I?" And thus, Noir finally dragged the clinging lacus into his room and lay down on the floor and let her use him as her bed. The bulky size of his bird clown suit allowed that at least. Lacus curled in comfort against Bert's fluffy chest. "mmm…" Before long her breathing mumbles steadied into a comfortable sleep. She fell asleep on his chest. "…but I can't… move like this…" Bert had no choice but to lay there on his back, with Lacus sleeping soundly on his chest. The sound of her steady breathing filled the quiet room… something about her voice… even the sound of her breathing was soothing. It wasn't long before Bert unconsciously began to follow her breathing pace… and his eyes began to grow heavy again. "…zzz… zzz… zzz…"

That was probably the first time in his life Noir actually woke up late – if the cries of anguish he let out when he woke up so late into the afternoon were any indication.

Alas and alack for him, this was to be the beginning of a frightening routine. Ever since that night, somehow, someway, Lacus always, ALWAYS sleep walk right into Kira's room and she'll always, ALWAYS spend the night sleeping on top of Kira's lap. She found it very comfortable. Worse, the other kids also began to accept this routine as a normality. His rank just decreased from a soft toy to a walking pillow.

"Look… Lady Clyne… you have your own rooms, you have your own bed… will you stop using me as a pillow!?"

"Ara… but you're so comfortable. So no." Lacus was as unrepentant as ever. After all, she had finally forced the Judge to be lazy for once. So why stop when it works!? Doubly more so when it's so much FUN! "Now, say aaah…"

There's her sleeping habit, and then there's this.

The one reason Noir had never once given up asking Lacus to remove this clown suit from him is this: he had yet to find a way to eat with his own hand. And perhaps that is precisely what Lacus want to happen, considering how much fun she had on something so simple as the activity of spoon feeding him on every meal time.

And speaking for herself, Lacus had a very good reason why.

It's the only way she can ensure he eats properly.

It's precisely because she had to feed him, Lacus knew exactly just how much he ate… The portion he took, dear God, Lacus wasn't sure she could last a day eating the amount he ate. From the way he eats, he seems to be more used to eat twice a day, considering how awkward he was during lunch. He would pluck a chicken clean down to the bone and so he get stared at by other kids when they saw his plates always licked clean down to the inch of his life. He acted like he had never eaten anything proper and yet when he was offered seconds, he would politely refuse. Conversely, he would glare at them whenever he saw their plates are still half full and yet they guiltlessly drop them into the sink.

"Dear Bert, is there something wrong the food?" A concerned Madame Hufflepuff once again asked when she watched how Bert rejected the spoon from Lacus yet again.

"No… It's… It's just…" Noir was at loss for words. "I... If Lady Clyne can be so kind as to take this ridiculous thing off I can eat on my own…!"

"If I do that, you're not going to eat right, aren't you?" Lacus pouted.

"I…!"

Lacus shoved her fork in front of Bert's beak. "Aaaan…"

The girl had seen through him. Noir had no choice. "…nom." His beak finally chomped on the food. The warm delicious food magically erupted in his mouth was a bit of a shock, but he can chew them slowly, easily. Maybe because now that he realized there was never any other way to secure food other than this, Noir had resigned himself and was forced to eat it at a much slower pace this time, giving time for his tongue to actually taste the food for once.

"…"

"…Bert-kyuun?" Lacus tilted her head.

Even Madame Hufflepuff was a bit concerned. Was her food did not suit his taste after all? "Monsieur Bert? Is something the matter?"

"…pepper."

"What?"

"…" Bert looked at the next portion Lacus was preparing for him. "…that could use a little more pepper."

Lacus breaks a smile. This was the first time Bert actually respond to the food that gets into his mouth. The fact he even criticized it means he actually took the effort of tasting it. "Okay! Pepper it is!" Lacus grabbed the pepper and sprinkled it almost excitedly at the food at her fork. "There?"

Bert shook his head. "A little bit more…" And she sprinkled it again before she offered the food to Bert. Bert chomped it and chew it as slowly as before. Lacus waited eagerly with glowing eyes on the side. Once the giant plush bird made the unmistakable sound of gulping the food, Lacus pressed her face to Bert's head, waiting to hear the word.

Silence for a few seconds… and… "…I taste… rosemary, allspice, and…" He tilted his head. "…did you grate apple flakes into this?"

Lacus shrugged back in bewilderment, whilst Madame Hufflepuff's interest was piqued. "My, my… I did not know you have such a discerning tongue, monsieur Bert. Yes, I did grate some apple into the curry. But just a little bit. I'm amazed you can taste that."

"Ils sont parfait, madame. (They are perfect.) It's… lady Clyne mixing it is a bit… weird…"

Lacus puffed her cheek in displeasure. "YOU'RE SO MEAN! THEN WHY DON'T YOU MIX IT YOURSELF THIS TIME!?"

"Gladly. Please undo my hand?" Bert hopefully shoved his wing to Lacus.

Lacus was about to comply… until she realized she almost fallen into a trap. "No… No. Because you're so mean, I won't."

Bert clicked his tongue releasing a small 'che'.

Mrs. Helga laughed heartily at the humor of the situation, but she also smiled somewhat awkwardly. "If you like it so much, you should have some more." Lacus quickly chimed in, food filled spoon at the ready.

"No… No. Thank you kindly, but I'm already full."

"How could you be full eating just this!?" Lacus finally became annoyed for once. "You're still growing! Eat!"

"Give it to other kids. They too are still growing." Noir replied firmly.

"It's you we're talking about here!"

"At the present, can you guys even afford this?" Noir's comment immediately stunned Lacus and Helga mid action. Fayt also stopped eating at that comment. The other children didn't understand the situation and they just keep eating happily. "…give it to the other kids. I'm the least of your concerns right now."

Sensing the awkward atmosphere he had caused, Noir politely gestured a quiet apology to Lacus and Madame Hufflepuff before he took his leave.

00000008 years later0000000

"Hoo…" Sala nodded up and down with great interest. "This is the first I heard of Zaft in such a way. The law of the Deep magic… it's almost similar to our challenge game in a way."

"It's virtually the same. Even the rules are not that different. To challenge someone you have to wage something of value. The challenged gets to decide the rule of the game, and etc, and etc." On the excuse of clearing her throat, Hikari asked to stop for a moment and even asked a drinking water.

"Except the law of deep magic absolutely force you to obey the deal." Kaguya sighed. "This is why Samurais are not really fond of Mages with your Arcane magic. It's far too… intrusive."

The cooking progressed smoothly until finally, the time comes to plate the dishes. Lacus again merely swiped her hands, and plates lined up as piping hot orange tinged omelet rice landed on each one, while tomato sauce made patterns atop the dish as a final touch. And that's one omu-rice for everyone. "…and I'm done. (Koff) and what about you girls? (Koff)"

"Well, what do you know?" Kaguya watched the soup with amazement. "Judging by the smell… it ain't half bad!"

"We haven't tasted it, but Tien Zi-sama is being very serious about this."

"I - I'm sorry." Tien Zi bit her lips as she blushed while she's still holding on to the ladle.

'Arara… that's unexpected. In a good way.' "Let me see." Lacus peeked down the giant pot. Kira's soup was as clear as water. In contrast, this one is not as clear and somewhat murky… but it doesn't smell anything weird, and considering the ingredients, this kind of result is already above average. "Alright… let's begin to actual tasting." She pulled out a spoon, took a sample and walked some distance away. Hikari unlatched her mask and took a sip.

Silence.

"Hikari-darren?"

Silence.

"…oi, Sister? Ya okay?"

Silence.

Hikari was absolutely stiff. The spoon is glued to her lips. She wasn't even blinking.

Tien Zi is starting to get a bad feeling. "…c… could it be… it tasted so bad she couldn't say anything…!?"

"N… Nonsense! There must be some explanation! Let… Let me try!" Salamandine pick up a spoon.

"Now I'm genuinely curious! Let me have a taste." Kaguya picked up a spoon.

The three remaining girls took a spoonful each and tasted a sip.

Only Tien Zi moved after the taste test. "Hmm… mmhm? Not sure… is this… good or bad…? Hmmm?" She looked up… and then she noticed…

Both Salamandine and Kaguya were also frozen stiff. The spoon didn't leave their mouths…

"…?" Now Tien Zi was genuinely worried and concerned. She starts fretting, looking around for help…

"Tien Zi-chan." A beautiful voice snapped her to attention. She looked to the source… it was Hikari, who, thankfully, had began to move again. This was the first time she heard her voice off mask. And what a beautiful voice it was. "…Tien Zi-chan… You… why don't you go call Setona in and have her serve the Omu Rice to everyone… the soup… I… errh… we'll get it ready to be distributed for everyone."

"Ah… Daifu! But the soup… wasn't it bad?"

"HEAVENS NO! No… no. it's… it's… It's just too hot… at the moment! Yessh! Yesh! Too hot, it might burn the children's tongue. So let it cool off! A bit! Yesh. Cool it off, for a wee bit!"

"Ah! Alright! Alright then." Tien Zi frown turned upside down in relief.

"Right! Right! Umm… Lily… why don't you get everyone and help Tien Zi distributes my Omu Rice to everywone!"

"Hikari-sama, you're so anxious you flubbed there. Haro." Lily sighed.

With the Haros help, plates of omu rice were brought out in a flash and immediately distributed. Already Lacus can hear the children devouring her dish, singing praises and cheers at its delectable quality.

But for the moment, she couldn't care less what everyone thinks about HER food.

Putting her mask back on, she quickly approached that pot and with pacing breath pushed her spoon in…

CLASH!

Kaguya's spoon cut hers off.

The sisters in arms looked at each other, only murder and bloodlust burns in their eyes, despite their cold and flat expressions. "…you haven't forgotten how unpleasant I would be when I'm angry, yes? (Koff)"

"…bring it sister!" Kaguya was as unafraid as she is positively murderous.

"Excuse me, I'll just be a quickie…" Salamandine quietly try to sneak a spoon in… but how could she sneak past the ultimate authority of sensor and the second best Medic nin in the country? "And what do you think you're doing!?" Hikari and Kaguya directed their bloodlust at her as they slapped her spoon off the soup. She was that close… but Salamandine, captain of the Imperial Guard is made of sterner stuff.

Three gigantic murderous intents erupted in that room, choking the life out of every lifeform within its confines as well as shattering the metaphysical realm, as sanity was unable to contain this tripartite bloodlust, rupturing all known and unknown reality with a deluge of bloodbath, drowning all the wretched and twisted existence in a sea of gore and carnage. The only thing that is inviolate in this shattered reality is that oh-so-precious pot filled with the much demanded soup, glowing brightly golden with rainbow aurora formed from its mere fragrance. All of this unstoppable desire of complete destruction is directed against everything and everyone but themselves and that soup – oath of non violence forgotten, geopolitical stability and diplomatic interstate relation be damned.

…that is until a rock smashed through the window and hit, of all things that it could hit, the pot, knocking it off the stove and spilling its precious content allover the floor.

The three girls just stare blankly as the source of conflict was spilled and irreparably spoiled before their very eyes and there's nothing they can do to stop it…

…except to find, and then slowly, painfully, excruciatingly murder whoever perpetrated this act of blasphemy against good food.

"GET OUT! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

But for the moment, their murderous intent and burning rage immediately evaporated as the three immediately realized, between the thrown rock and that hostile screams, something else is afoot. Lacus' ears twitched. She's hearing footsteps with movement rhythmic filled with bad intentions, and they're closing in.

Kaguya and Sala noticed it next and they too tensed. They don't hear like Lacus, but being veteran warriors, this aura of death is unmistakable. They remained stationary, but Sala visibly placed her hand on her sword and Kaguya became less jittery.

Outside, the cheerful atmosphere from before had long since vanished, the children stopped playing and eating, some even spill their food in their rush to run for cover. And Setona grew grimmer, no, she actually made a very angered grimace. She made a motion to get up but Nahe get to her and gently pushed her back, shaking his head. The children soon were huddled together with Setona, whilst Nahe and Daego stood ahead of the group, ready to protect them. Some plates of Hikari's Omu Rice were thrown on the dirt, some were stepped over by this horde of people with hostile expression. Hint: they were all very well armed and very well dressed.

"Alliance Regulars!?" Kaguya frowned. "What's going on here!?"

Hikari step forth. "Is there a problem? (Koff)"

"Ah, Lady Hikari!" Nahe was somewhat relieved.

"Hikari-chan?"

Hikari's eyes widened. Amidst the horde of angry Troopers, there stood a familiar busty figure. "Simca…?"

The now short haired Sergeant walked out to the front, ahead of the angry crowd and came face to face with the armored doctor. But even before the word came out, the sergeant noticed her anger.

"What is going on here Simca? (Koff) Of all the Alliance personnel I've met, I thought you're a more decent person than this. (Koff)"

Simca's eyes twitched. Hikari wouldn't thrust that much hostility to someone else without reason. She then turned to the troopers with anger in her eyes. "I just got here… What did you do!?" She directed the question to the troopers.

The troopers looked at each other in confusion. "W… We were just following our orders!"

"You were ordered to terrorize children and throw rocks into their homes? (Koff)"

At this, Simca glared at the troopers in full fury. "You useless wretches can get lost until I call on you! SCRAM!"

The crowd of troopers dispersed themselves under Simca's furious glare until there's only Simca on this side. The tension was defused, but the issue remained. "Simca… I'm still waiting for an explanation. (koff)"

Simca nodded. "…as you're well aware, Shanghai is one of the strategic locations in the defense of the coming attack from Zaft. As such… all civilians had been ordered to evacuate. I even heard that the Mayor was threatened by Kage at knife's edge to make sure of this?"

"I was there. (koff) I'm aware. (Koff)"

"Good. Then you're aware of the reason why… these kids had to leave?" Simca had to choke that last part. She looked apologetically at Setona. The little girl understood immediately, but the fact it came from what is essentially the second benefactor of this place made it even more painful.

"I'm not saying I'm against the idea. (Koff) But why the violence? (koff)"

"Everybody was on edge. They all know what's coming, and with tension is already as high as it is, and then there's the recent event of that bloody clash between the 7th and the 10th, everyone's fuse had become alarmingly short." Simca looked at the children. "I've been hearing about this place a lot more often. Of how troopers had been telling the children to move away but they won't listen. I tried to give them time, redirect everyone's attention away from this place, knowing who's in here… but I'm running out of time. What happened just now proves it. When I hear they're going to use force, I came here as soon as I could… but it looks like I'm a step too late… no one is hurt, I hope?"

Hikari's anger abated significantly. "No. (Koff) Just the soup Tien Zi made. (GROAN)" That unexpected groan was mimicked by at least two other girls.

"Tien Zi?" Simca blinked. She could've sworn she heard that name somewhere…?

"This is going to be unpleasant. (Koff) Setona… get the children inside, then… let's talk. (Koff)"

Setona nodded. She glanced at Nahe and the children were quickly harried inside, leaving Hikari, Simca and Setona to talk this out, with Kaguya and Salamandine watching from the background.

"…Setona… I wish no harm on these children, you know that… (Koff) but… is there a reason you refuse to evacuate as ordered? (koff)"

Setona sighed. "…Hikari-sensei… Simca-san… I'm… a daughter of a mob boss. One of the worst kinds. You both know this, yes?"

"That does not define who you are. (Koff)"

"No. But it does give me… insight." Setona grimly frowned. "My father works in the brothel business. She captured girls, drug them, and then used them until they expire. But that method isn't always reliable. So… another way of him acquiring girls… is by adopting children from poorly kept orphanages. I know this… because later, I found out that is exactly why he picked me up from the orphanage in the first place. The whole… discovery I'm his actual biological daughter was an unexpected twist that spared me. And me alone. I wasn't the only girls she picked… but I'm the only one that survives." Setona's expression turned grim. "I didn't found out about this until after Hikari-sensei rescued me and I studied my father's record, thoroughly."

Hikari bit their lips. "No offense to your father… but we all know he was a crook. (Koff) But this is the army! (koff) The official army! (Koff) Surely-"

"Hikari-sensei, up until recently my father had them in his pockets! He paid them! To pick those girls up from the orphanage! The army! The regulars! And occasionally, he even allowed them to had their way with some of them!"

Hikari turned to Simca, who merely bitterly bit her lips. "…it happens… from time to time."

"And you didn't try to stop this!? (koff)"

"I can at least make sure none under my direct command to engage in such an act! But I'm but one Lieutenant in a huge multinational army! I can't control how everyone behaves! Every now and then we'll have assholes like Orga Sabnak and his ilk popping out here and there, slipping past my nets!"

"I understand completely how dangerous this place will be for the children. But if I'm to be responsible for their lives, I cannot, in good conscience, to just entrust them to some people I cannot trust. Especially to people who would use terror and violence to kick children out of their homes!"

"…if… If I'm to help you relocate these children…(Koff)… where will they go? (koff)"

"We have designated bunkers dotted allover the place for events such as this. It's well supplied and fortified under army management…" Simca tilted her head. "The trick is… making sure the refugees get there as they should. We don't want them to just get 'lost in transit'." Simca made an angry quotation fingers. "I wish I can say there's a surefire way to make sure it didn't happen. If I had my way, I'd oversee this personally, but that means I had to take an extended leave. That could be weeks. And right now, I can ill afford to leave this city."

"Why? (Koff)"

"…because of Kage darling, I'm afraid." Simca bit her lips. "As I've mentioned before, recently there was an accident where the 7th and 10th had a rather nasty clash. Some of the most unruly of the 10th tried to steal 7th store of rations, violating army regulations they thought they could get away with… except they didn't. The old Harlbarton's 7th would just wimpily let the thief get away… but this is Kage's 7th division: Infinitely more vicious and had no stomach for that kind of bullshit. They hunt them down and killed them all, mutilate and then hang their corpses before burning them in braziers all across the city as a warning."

Setona was rather glad she sent the children away, but she wrinkled and shirked in horror and was on the verge of crying if she had not felt Hikari's gentle pat on her back. Kaguya and Salamandine were of sterner stuff than the younger girl but even they had to frown.

"Long story short, the tension between 7th and 10th are higher than ever. The two divisions looked like they were as likely to kill each other as they would the enemy." Simca sighed. "If Kage Honey was here, things would be different… but it falls to me and the lieutenant of the 7th, Canard-kun to keep the peace… long enough until the enemy comes. Any chance on Kage-honey returning?"

"He's alive, if that's what you're worried about. (koff)" Hikari groaned. "But… I believe he was… reassigned? (koff) To some fortress called Shuhan or something…? (koff)"

"Shuhan!?" Simca seem more shocked of this assignment rather than the fact her honey actually survived going toe to toe with a Logos minister in the court of law. "Well, well… that's that then. That's on the other side of China, he won't be back in a while I suppose."

"…so… what now?" Setona asked. "…do I have to leave now?"

Hikari frowned. Indeed, eventually, she'll have to. '…this is funny. Here I am trying to find a way to evict an orphanage… while back then I was on the receiving end…'

00000008 years earlier0000000

"Well, this is problematic."

So Lacus concluded. Februarius is a continent who takes pride in one industry: tourism. It is a place for the Idle Rich to live out their dreams of living as lazily as they wish. Bountiful of delicious food, magical servants to carry out one's every whim without lifting a finger… For someone who wants a quiet place to rest and have fun while getting fat and big… this is the spot.

And that was the original plan she had in mind for her guest. With this level of injury what he needs is total rest. So she figured, the idyllic lifestyle in Zaft's Continent of Peace is what the doctor ordered. The place where he can rest until he fully heals… except that was clearly NOT what her guest liked.

She already found a way to force him to sleep longer hours, force fed him a variety of food to improve his vitals. She made him rest, enjoy every comfort she can give him – because seriously, Lacus learned… she really need to forcefed him this comfort in order for him to take the benefit from it. And yet, she can tell, sensor or not, that her guest of honor condition isn't getting any better. Physically, he's fine… but mentally… he was a shattered wreck. The more Lacus tried to push him to calm down, the more restless he get. The only reason he hasn't start screaming or throwing a tantrum her way, is because he was too nice to do so. It finally dawned to her a little late that for Noir to relax… he actually had to DO something.

"ROGER! Put down that axe! PEPITTA! Come here! Oh dear, oh dear!"

Alas, Helga's instruction fell on deaf ears. The two children were too busy screaming and laughing happily as they easily outrun the obviously slower Helga. And don't get started on the hopelessly out-ran Lacus. It's like there's nothing that can stop them… until…

"Okay, that's it."

"W… WOAAAHH!" Roger squealed as he took a slip and ran face to face with the end of the line.

Said end of the line is a young boy with blue hair carrying a wooden sword in one hand and grabbing Roger's neck with the other. He was strong enough that he was able to lift Roger's tiny build off the ground with that one hand. "Roger. Stop giving Madame Hufflepuff so much trouble." Fayt Leingod sighed.

"Hiee!" With Roger captured, Pepitta turned tail and took a jump to a different direction to escape capture, but to no avail. Because on that other path, Noir was ready and waiting for her to just literally fall into his welcoming one arm.

While Noir's actual physical stature is essentially smaller and even weaker than most children, it was thanks to this interesting suit that it wasn't an issue. Its ridiculous appearance aside, the plushie Bert suit made him easily bigger than even adults in stature – but there's more to this suit than just enlarging his size.

The tanned little girl landed safely on Bert's soft and fluffy one wing, and said wing didn't even budge as it supports the girl's full weight.

That's right. That suit also amplify one's strength several magnitudes their original. He asked her many times where did she get something like this, but a girl gotta have her secrets. She also made the suit fluffy and soft, even if it has superhuman strength, one cannot hurt anyone even when one absolutely tries to.

"Thank you, Bert-nii." Fayt smiled.

Bert shook his head. "I told you. No need to call me Nii." At 10 year old, Fayt is one of the few children here who's older than Noir.

"But you seem to be the only one around here with any common sense."

Noir rolled his eyes. Indeed, somewhere along the line, even though he still struggle very badly to blend in with what should've been the children of his age group, thanks to his early maturity he ended up being the awkward one out. But, many children think his awkwardness is… kinda cool. With none of the kids knew his actual form and age, he turned into a big brother figure to some kids even older than him.

Noir had long since noticed, this orphanage houses the kind of children that was forgotten or ignored by the society simply because their bloodline limit is… unneeded or unsuited with the demands of the warring age. Fayt Leingod, last son of the Leingod family. A minor noble family whose bloodline limit is already at an end. Roger Huxley, youngest bastard of the Huxley bloodline, an old family known to be great foresters in their heyday – at least until the forest are cut down. Peppita Rosetti. From the Rosetti family, used to be famed for their circus troupe act – hardly necessary during this era of war. The other children are no different: outcasts and runaways that Lacus took in out of her kindness.

"There you are! Huff… puff!" Poor Mrs. Helga Hufflepuff finally managed to catch up. "Come on now, you two! Everybody has done it, now it's your turn!"

"I don't wanna! I don't wanna! I don't wanna!" Roger was squealing, and Peppita tried hard to scurry away. But Fayt kept his grip tight and Bert's fluffy wing is quite slippery.

The two boys carried the runaways to the one place all children of their age dread more than any other.

The baths.

Where Lacus are waiting with brush and soap ready to pounce. "Well done you two!" She welcomed them with a big smile.

"Everybody already had their baths. You two are the only ones left. Come on now!" Still being held by Fayt and Bert, Helga and Lacus gently took off the children's clothes. And still they keep trying to find their chance to escape, modesty be damned.

"And down you go!" Fayt and Bert tossed the rebellious two straight into the tub. One splash of water later, and the two tried to jump back out. "IT'S FREEZING!" But Bert used his one wing to harry them back in. They're now at Madame Hufflepuff and Lacus' ample mercy.

"It would've been warm if you two hadn't been fooling around so much." Fayt laughed watching the two shivering children as Helga and Lacus cleaned them up.

"What's so scary about taking a bath?" Bert asked.

"No idea." Fayt chuckled.

"Were you ever been so scared of dipping in the water?"

"Well… I remember there was a time I just wanna play Knights all day and I couldn't care less about hygiene. Taking a bath seem like a waste of precious time. Time I could've spend to have some more fun. Sword training and stuff. But… nowadays…" Fayt turned to Bert. "What about you Bert-nii?"

"…I… don't think it's fun or terrifying. It's… it's common sense." To be precise: it's part of the job. It's not like Judges should care how they smell. Why, they can barge in into the HQ covered in shit if the situation demands it. But… if you smell so bad that no one won't even talk to you, that would be detrimental to the job and poor manners. The first step of diplomacy is always a good impression.

And that, in Lacus mind, is the main problem. It seems to Noir, there was no other thing to do other than his duty and responsibility. Everything he do is part of a job. There's no fun, only responsibility for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 24/7. '…I thought children ought to think on playing and little else…'

"Bert-nii?"

Alas, Noir's awkward silence went on for a seemingly indeterminate amount of time. Lacus noticed the long silence and knew very well what it meant. And she shook her head in displeasure. It became obvious to Lacus, to everyone, that discipline has become an aspect that has been… literally forged into every fiber of his being. So much so that the very concept of fun itself is something utterly alien to the Judge. Lacus can easily see, despite his maturity, he looked like a lost kid not knowing where to go. "Now, now, you two." Lacus distract her disturbed thoughts as she lovingly washes Roger's hair. "If you behave yourselves, I'll buy you some ice cream later for dessert."

And the two children stop resisting in less than a heartbeat. Helga and Lacus exchanged glances and smirked as well. Lacus looked to Bert and Fayt as well. "Would you like some ice cream too? My treat! As thank you for job well done!"

"That would be nice." Fayt nodded excitedly.

But Bert… "…no… thank you. I… I've had a bite."

Lacus' smile faltered a bit, but she cheerfully moaned. "You keep saying that. You don't know what you're missing."

"I'll take my chances."

"Cough! Cough! COUGH! Caack!" A series of increasingly louder and horrid cough from the room next door drew everyone's immediate attention. "That'll be Sophie. Go, Fayt. Miss Clyne, you too. I got this." Noir immediately closed in.

Fayt only gave one quick nod of gratitude before he bolted. Lacus' mirthful expression also instantly turned grimmer as she gave a look to Helga, who replied with a grim nod. Lacus spare a quick glance at Noir, but she turned away. She's needed elsewhere right now. Noir turned from their retreating back to the innocent children having so much fun splashing in the small tub, laughing without a care of the world's woes.

Lacus made a mental note to ask lord Ray Yuki very politely, what manner of malignant brainwashing he performed on his students to the point they're indoctrinated like so. He needs to do something, anything, but even though Lacus gave him menial chores, it won't do much good if she didn't get to the very bottom of this unhealthy self flagellating workaholic attitude. "Lord Yuki…"

Well then… maybe that will be her way in…

And so, later that evening…

"NOIR-KYUUUN!" Lacus jumped and glomped on his right shoulder. "What are you doing? What are you doing now?" She happily snuggled and rubbed her face on his fluffy head. "Fuwa-fuwaa!"

"…nothing." Noir grumbled. There's nothing to do anyway.

"Nee, nee, Noir-kyun! Wanna see something cool?"

"No."

"Heee? But it's so amazing! You're gonna be so impressed!"

"No. Please… no." Kira growled. "Can't you see what I'm trying to do here!?" Kira snapped, causing Lacus to back away for a moment… and then she saw a piece of blank paper in front of Kira, and that he was holding a quill using his stubby fingers, showing he had improved his dexterity in using the suit by a great margin during this one week. He was trying to write a letter, but considering the fact it's still empty, he's not making any progress. "This is the last day of the week. I'm supposed to write a written report to Lord Yuki. So please don't disturb me!"

"Arara! But this amazing thing had something to do with Lord Yuki!"

"?" For a moment, Kira's interest was piqued.

"Come!" And that was enough for Lacus. She immediately grabbed Kira's arm and dragged him up across the orphanage, across the stares of the other children into a small room with a small fireplace and a cauldron.

"…?"

Lacus start adding ingredients into the bubbling cauldron. "Let's see… a pinch of butterfly eyes and that… cockroach liver… one drop of crocodile tears… and a little bit of horse bone dust and…!" She lifted the cauldron, and much to Kira's confusion, tossed the content into the fireplace. The watery content did not douse the flame, it in fact enlarge it, and turn the flame's color to a weird blue teal color.

"What… are… you doing?"

"Look into the flame."

Kira did look into the flames… it began to… take shape. The flame distorts the air around it, like a mirage effect… but unlike normal mirage, the distortion creates an image. The sound of the roaring flames also died down… turning into… voices.

"Is this thing on? I just… talk to the flames?"

Unless he's dreaming, he just heard Lord Yuki's voice billowing from the blue flames. "Lord Yuki? Is that really you?"

"Wow. Kir… I mean… Noir? That is you right?" as the voice became clearer, the mirage distortion also turned into an ephemeral image of Ray Yuki's bewildered visage. "I can see you- Wh~aat are you wearing?" Ray Yuki was a bit taken aback. One week had passed and he had been told he will receive the report from his favorite student face to face via some magical means and this is what welcomes him.

"If you start laughing, I'm seriously going to cry." Upon hearing Noir's voice pouting from behind that mask and Ray immediately understood.

Lacus chuckled. But then she politely bowed. "I'll just leave you two alone. Oh, and I will seal off all sound coming from this room, so no eavesdropping!" She closed the door.

"…"

0000000

"Hahhahaha. Every bit as mischievous as the rumor said she was."

"I don't know whether I have to treat her like a genius or an airheaded buffoon." Just watching how she expertly resuscitates a near dead patient in a heartbeat qualifies her as one of the most able physician in the realm. That's the genius part. But her other behavior that utterly devoid of even the basest of common sense…

"So… how're you holding up?"

"Uhh… …about as well as can be hoped." Noir lied.

And Ray knows it. "Wow. That bad huh?"

"You told Lord Slytherin my real age?" At least, that's precisely what Noir deduced when Balthazar Slytherin spoke the words: act your age.

"I only implied you're of a young side. I didn't give him any exact carbon dating but I guess he deduced it himself. That's my magic teacher for you."

"I've only heard rumors that you two are far from getting along… but…"

"Well this isn't about me, this is about you."

"Am I… Do they really need me in here?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean look at this place. A 180 degree difference with Aprillus. So peaceful, so quiet. Crime is virtually inexistent… Are you sure putting me in here is a good idea? I… I don't want the mess I made in Aprillus chased me all the way here!"

"I think it's the best idea I've had since forever. Noir, what Lord Slytherin said… act your age. Let me rephrase that. How old are you?"

"…8."

"Then how about for once in your life, act like an 8 year old. Just stop caring about everything. Stop caring about the world, stop caring its woes so much, just like a child should be on your age. Besides, Athrun too is enjoying his 'holiday'. His mom kept him busy to distract how jealous he was of your new living condition."

"Once he found out the true condition here, believe me, he won't be so enthused."

"Perhaps. But you two had done so much already. I'd say we all earned a rest. Why don't you try to do the same, eh?"

"…what's the catch?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing is ever simple with you. What's the catch?"

"No catch. Cross my heart: May I die a horrible death if I lie."

"…that's not even funny on so many levels."

"Do you even remember what fun is?" Ray Yuki asked knowingly.

"…I…"

"Thought so. Find out." Ray smiled kindly. "You are a little soldier. A child soldier. You've learned how to act during wartime… now you must learn how to act in peace time. That too, is a responsibility of a Judge. Until you understand how to do this, I will not lift your suspension."

Finally, the 'debriefing' concluded on one last awkwardly cheerful note (at least on Ray's side). "This thing is pretty convenient." Ray remarked. "Tell you what, let's use this as well on your weekly report instead of the old school paper and quill. It's far more informative for me to see your development face to face." He took one more glance at Noir's birdie head. "…figuratively speaking…" And he's obviously suppressing a laugh.

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When Noir finally walked out, she welcomed him with her ever present ever kind smile. "How'd it go?"

"I…" He looked like he was about to snap a rude words… but then he swallowed a gulp and seemingly buried the rude reply down his throat. "It's… fine… I guess…?" Noir took a few steps away but then… "…Lady Clyne…?"

"Yes?"

"That… ice cream thing… from before… I'd like to try it sometime. My treat."

She stopped dead in her tracks.

"…Lady Clyne?" Noir turned to see her.

Her eyes were glowing, her cheeks flushing. "Now."

"Eh… what?"

"Let's have that ice cream NOW! MY TREAT!"

"Wh… Wait a minute-" Before Noir can say anything Lacus yanked his wing and dragged him full speed to the town Plaza market. Not long after they stopped right in front of the ice cream parlor.

"Two titan class portion please! Mine is strawberries, tutti-frutti, chocolate, melon, marmalade, and the whole works on toppings as long as it's sweet!" She excitedly made her signature diabetic nightmare request while Noir was catching his breath and making sure none of his joints are dislocated. He barely managed to come to when she's already breathing down his neck. "What do you like Bert-kyun!? We got marmalade, pineapple, sugarcandy, peanut and jelly, you name it Mr. Fortescue got it! He's a maestro of ice cream!"

"Ahahaha! Thank you for the compliment Miss Clyne." Mr. Fortescue chuckled. "Whatever you want, young man. Name me any taste and you got it!" He challenged.

"Then… do you have anything that is… spicy?"

Challenge lost. "SPICY ice cream!?" Fortescue's eyes widened. "…now THAT is revolutionary… I never thought of that…"

"Don't be silly! What silly soul on earth would want to eat a spicy ice cream!?"

"This silly soul." Noir pointed at self. "…I… I don't do well with sweets, to be honest."

"Well… I don't have spicy young man, not yet anyway…" Mr. Fortescue added that last bit to himself in a whisper, much to Lacus' consternation. "But… I do have some that taste bitter… Would you like to?" Noir nodded. "Then maybe I'll put… Belgian chocolate, cappuccino, expresso, mocca… and my newest: macha (green tea)."

"Hmm…" Mr. Fortescue waved his wand and streams of ice creams of multiple colors swirled from his ice cream bins and weave themselves in the air in a beautiful rainbow swirl before they settle to form two massive multi colored ice cream castle on a bed of flower like waffle. True to its namesake, this thing was almost as big as Bert's clown head! It's supposed to be really heavy and yet, it was as light as air! Even Lacus, with her crippled arm, can lift the whole thing with one hand!

"That'll be 20 Sickles for two titan sized ice cream."

"Of course!" Lacus was about to open her purse, but Noir stopped her. "I told you it's my treat."

"Didn't we agree beforehand that it'll be my treat?"

"You should learn to listen to other people for once. I never said I agree to that arrangement! Besides… besides I felt like I never get to thank you properly."

"Thank me for what?"

Watching the two argue, Mr. Fortescue chuckled. "Just kidding. Mr. Birdie, you're new around here aren't you? It is a tradition on my parlor that any new customer can have his/her first Fortescue ice cream free of charge. And Lady Lacus had been my loyal customer for as long as I can remember. So it's my treat."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Fortescue!" Lacus smiled and Noir simply bowed politely.

The two finally found a bench where they can sit together to enjoy this gargantuan ice cream portion. Or at least, Noir tried. Lacus happily devoured hers, but Noir haven't touched his yet. After all, Lacus still refused to undo his suit. "Oh! I'm sorry!" With her face covered in cream, Lacus immediately realized her folly. "Here… alohomora." Lacus swing her finger, and the doll wing on Noir's right hand unlatched itself for the first time in what seem like ages. And Noir looked upon his fingers again. "Finally…" Noir can finally hold a spoon with his own hand for once. Noir took a spoonful of this multicolored construct and was still pondering on how he should start to eat this…

"Thank me properly for what?" Lacus, mouth still smeared with cream and frosting, asked.

Noir plucked his unresponsive left arm/wing. "I didn't remember much about what has been done to me. But it's all coming back to me. I don't remember much about the doctor… but I do remember you."

"Eh?" Lacus also stopped eating midgulp.

"Well… I don't remember face… I do remember pink. And there aren't many people in this continent with pink hair." Noir shrugged. "You're the nurse, right? The Nurse who helped the doctor who saved my life. So… thank you, I guess."

"My sensei." Lacus smiled sadly. "It was my sensei who saved your life. I'm the one who gave up."

"Gave up?"

"I'm not a nurse per se. I'm the apprentice doctor. My sensei first showed you to me. I was supposed to put you back together… but… there I was… I just stood in front of your gurney… absolutely clueless on what to do. You were in pieces… your life burning out with every second I waste… and I finally give up."

"Hm. You're an apprentice to that doctor." Noir nodded. "I see… he set you up to fail."

"What kind of teacher does that?"

"The kind that was trying to teach you that you can't win every battle." Noir chuckled. "The first time I played chess against Lord Yuki, he totally steamrolled me. Lost every piece I have while I only managed to take out… like 3 to 4 of his. It was a slaughter."

"We're talking about chess… right? I always thought it was harmless game."

"Ah. Right. My point is…" Noir choose his next words very carefully. "Let me ask: the first time, you can't do a thing. Let's say now, there's another person half frozen to death just fell right out of the sky right in front of you. Can you fix him?"

"Well…" Lacus remembered every procedure that was committed with crystal clarity. It's hard to forget when one realizes how useless one is in that situation. Still, she memorized every action her sensei took… but remembering it is one thing, doing it… "I can try. But no promises that it'll be as good as what my master did with you."

"Then at the very least, our sacrifices: your failure and my injuries, meant something. You went from completely clueless to wanting to try. Now, there's one more doctor in this world who can give patients like me a chance."

"…Noir-san… You… you might be wondering."

"Hm?"

"Why… why did I give you a place to stay and all."

"Hm. Yeah. That's a good question. Why indeed?"

"…Why… Why did you do what you do? Being a Judge and all. That seem to be a lot of work. A lot of… hardship."

Noir blinked. "…nobody ever asked me that question."

"Oh?"

"…Well… if I have to say why…" Noir tilted his head. "…I…"

"…Noir-san?"

"LACUS-SIS!" Lacus and Noir snapped when they heard the cry. It was Roger and Peppita running towards them. Their face was pale and terrified. "LACUS-SIS! THE HOME IS IN DANGER! LACUS-SIS!"

Noir and Lacus exchanged brief looks before they stood up and followed the two frantic children, their two gigantic ice creams were left behind, one of them virtually untouched.

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