Volume III.5: Vermillion Blue

Chapter II: What Did I Do To Warrant An Assassin?!


Location: Monochrome Tower

Noel chose to remain quiet for now as she and S4-213 stared each other down. She was able to avoid the missile barrage out of nowhere and was ready to fight, the assassin unaware of just how attached Bolverk is to the girl. Lyrial and Aguil moved to a safer spot, but were still close enough that they could provide aid to Noel whenever they choose or when she asks.

"Well damn," Lyrial said. "Blondie's got some moves when her head is in the game."

"Be glad she knew you weren't trying to harm her in the park," Aguil sighed. "The way she managed to react to a gun being that close to her was amazing. There's no telling what she would've done to you."

"Hey, you make it sound like I'm a slouch!"

"Huh? I didn't mean it like that. I was just complimenting Noel."

Lyrial pouts. "Humph!"

"Lyrial, please…" Aguil looked back at Noel and the assassin. "But still… I wonder who sent that Demonic Android after her…?"

Noel looked over for a split second, and was glad to see that Lyrial and Aguil were both still safe and out of range. "As long as they're over there…" she thought as she took a step forward. "They'll be fine. I can focus all of my energy on defeating her!"

S4-213 held out her left hand as it transformed into a pistol. She slowly aimed at Noel and fired, the blonde avoiding the bullet casually. Noel held her hands out, the android's internal sensors started going off as two glyphs appeared in front of her hands. Emerging from them were her Nox Nyctores Bolverk. Noel grabbed the twin guns as they emerged, striking a pose before entering her battle stance. S4-213 did not predict this, turning around to where she kicked Bolverk away. She saw that the guns were nowhere in sight, surprising her as she faced Noel, who was pointing the gun in her right hand towards the assassin.

"You leave me no choice," Noel said. "If you won't stop pursuing me to explain what's going on, I'll have to make you stop with force."

The demonic android held out her right arm without removing her cloak. Her right hand transformed into a mechanical pulley wheel. Her arm opened up as a silver blade was pulled out of it, attaching to the metal wheel in a reverse manner. The blade was very large and long, extending from the end of the arm up to just past the android's shoulder. She held her arm in front of her, the blade right in front of her face.

"Combat Mode initiated," the blunette said. "Commencing elimination of target."

The assassin broke into a running sprint, prompting Noel to respond as she held both guns towards her and started firing. The blunette was able to sink low as she ran, letting her avoid Bolverk's blast as she ran towards Noel in a curved motion. She started firing bullets of her own, making the blonde move away from where she stood. Noel ran behind the android who used her blade to drift and turn around, catching up to her before she could fire again. The assassin swung her blade and was blocked by Noel's guns. The otherworlder pushed the assassin back and swung her left gun to try and hit her. The blunette dodging it and tried to fire a shot, but was elbow in the arm, making her miss. Noel aimed Bolverk and fired, shooting her square in the chest. The assassin however, didn't even flinch. She didn't appear fazed at all by the direct hit even though there was visible damage done to her chest. Suddenly, she grabbed Noel's arm and threw the girl over her shoulder. Noel didn't let go of her weapons as she hit the floor on her back. She rolled over to avoid another gunshot from the assassin and got back to her feet, firing shots from Bolverk in retaliation.

S4-213 jumped onto the wall to put some distance between her and Noel, firing off several rounds from her hand pistol. Noel jumped back to the side of the main building and kicked off the wall, launching herself towards her opponent. The blunette kept firing and jumped into the air. Noel formed another glyph in front of her as her guns disappeared. She grabbed hold of the wall and spun around it. She propelled herself into the air with her hands and summoned Bolverk once again when she was close to the demonic android.

"Revolver Blast!" Noel spun around as she fired Bolverk, shooting multiple blasts in the vicinity of her opponent. The demonic android was unable to escape as Noel spun around her while fire. The moment she was below Noel, the blonde aimed her guns down and fired two blasts simultaneously, sending the blunette towards the ground. S4-213 crashed, but quickly got back to her feet as Noel came down on her. The otherworlder pulled the trigger on her right gun, but her aim was messed up when Bolverk collided with the android's blade. Her left hand turned back to normal as Noel landed on her feet. The girl spun around and fired Bolverk multiple times. Noel's arm was grabbed by the blunette, who pulled her forward and slashed at her exposed abdomen with her arm blade. Noel winced as she was cut, but was unable to retaliate as the android picked her up and slammed her into the floor. Holding up her arm blade, the android stabbed down on her opponent. Noel sweeps the Demon's leg, tripping her and making her blade hit the ground as Noel rolled from under her. Noel stepped back but noticed she was at the edge of the tower. Looking in front of her, she was surprised when she saw the demonic android's left leg open to reveal miniature gun turrets mounted in the sides.

"How many weapons does she have?!" Noel thought.

The demonic android opened fire, prompting the blonde to backflip off the ledge and start sliding down the wall of the tower, the tips of her boots making sparks as she slid down. S4-213 jumped into the air and used her arm blade to hook on the wall and slide down. Removing her blade, the demonic android started running on the wall towards Noel, who opened fire with her left gun. The blunette covered her face with her blade as she blocked the gun blasts. S4-213 armed herself with her hand pistol and returned fire, Noel shooting down the bullets before they could reach her. Suddenly, the android stopped running. She moved away from the tower and entered a straight dive with her arm blade in front and her pistol extended, shooting at Noel. The blonde noticed how quickly her opponent was catching up and stopped skidding as well. Entering the same position, Noel dived towards the ground as quickly as possible, even using Bolverk to increase her speed. Noel reached the ground before the android, rolling and getting back to her feet as fast as possible.

"Fenrir!"

Noel turned around as Bolverk turned into a large gatling gun. The otherworlder didn't hesitate to open fire on her opponent as she approached the ground. S4-213's hand pistol disappeared as held her left hand in front of her. A large, red glyph appeared in front of her, the android disappearing as she collided into it. Noel was surprised, disarming her gatling gun as it disappeared.

"Where did she…"

Before she could summon Bolverk again, Noel was taken by surprise when the android appeared before her, via another red glyph. This time, the android had both arms transformed into blades. S4-213 gave Noel no time to act before slashing her multiple times while dashing around her opponent. After multiple frontal attacks, she moved behind Noel and slashed her from behind. She zoomed in front of her again, slashing her sides. Finally, she stopped by impaling Noel through the stomach with both arm blades. Or at least that's what should have happened. The demonic android's sensors went off as she did her last attack. Turning around, she was immediately shot in both the face and chest by Noel's Bolverk and sent flying. The blonde summoned her guns just in time to stop that next attack.

S4-213 was sent flying into the market section below the tower, which everyone had already fled. When the android got up, there was more noticeable damage on her body. Her chest had a large hold in it, exposing a metal frame under skin. Her head had some damage as well, metal frame and wires being revealed around her right eye. She disarmed her arm blades. This time, her right hand transformed into a gatling gun that took up space up to her elbow. Her left arm opened up to reveal an octagonal shaped missile battery. Lastly, a targeting scope appeared over her left eye as a small pistol formed on the side of her face.

Noel ran into the market, pursuing her opponent. She was moving cautiously, with Bolverk being pointed in every direction she looked.

"I really wish we didn't have to fight here…" Noel said to herself. "All this has done is destroy public property. I didn't realize how much of a scene fighting her would cause. At least all of the people made it out safe."

Noel sensed the android's presence, and turned her head to see the blunette aiming her gatling gun towards her. The blonde ran out of the way as the assassin opened fire, tearing up the walls and tables behind Noel. She returned fire with Bolverk while running away, scoring several shots as her opponent did not move. Noel hid behind a metal pole as more bullets flew past her on the right. She emerged from the left and fired several rounds from Bolverk. The android spun around when hit, and fired a bullet from her head mounted pistol, scraping the side of Noel's cheek and drawing blood. The blunette held out her arm and fired eight missiles, forcing the otherworlder to jump out of the way as the area behind her was blown apart. "Reloading." The missile battery retracted into her arm as she reloaded her missiles.

"How can you just be so reckless?!" Noel exclaimed while firing at her opponent. "This is still a public area, you can't just destroy everything in sight!"

"Collateral damage was not an important factor when assigned my mission," S4-213 replied, firing her gatling gun in retaliation. "If this is a problem, the solution is that you remain still as I commence with your termination."

Noel slid underneath the bullet hail and shot the blunette's legs. The android started to fall to her knees just as Noel followed up and swept her legs, but she didn't go down without retaliating. She stopped herself from falling with her left arm and turned her head, firing shots from her head pistol. Noel staggered back as she was hit by multiple bullets, a total of four, in various places excluding the head. The blonde raised her arms and fired Bolverk once again, the demonic android going airborne and avoiding the blast. She revealed her missile launcher and fired another set of eight, the missiles hitting the ground all around her opponent. Noel was sent flying into the air by the explosions, her opponent immediately flying up to her before she had a chance to recover. Her right arm transformed mid-flight, switching to an arm blade that she used to impale Noel through the stomach before spinning her around and kicking her to the ground.

Noel crash landed, destroying a good portion of the market on her way down. S4-213 formed another red glyph below her and fell through it, feet first. The glyph reappeared above Noel where the demonic android came out head first, both arm blades active. The wheels on the end rolled, moving the blade down to where her hands should be. The blunette spun around and swung down, preparing to end her fight and eliminate the otherworlder. However, she wasn't expecting Noel to make a quick recovery, and block her blades with her guns. Noel forced the android to jump back and land, wasting no time going on the offensive. S4-213 was forced to do nothing but block as Noel used her guns as melee weapons. Her blades clashed with Bolverk multiple times as they moved around the market. Suddenly, she was alarmed when Noel pulled the trigger, blowing apart the android's left arm with a powerful blast and leaving her open.

Noel fired another powerful blast from Bolverk, making the android stumble back. "Chain Revolver!" Having the advantage, Noel didn't hesitate to go to work with her Drive ability. She stepped forward and fired several more blasts with her back turned, then turned around and crossed arms as she fired more shots. Noel axe kicked her opponent before spinning around and kicking them again with her other leg, following up with another shot from Bolverk. The android tried to recover and swing her right arm in retaliation. "Assault Through!" Just as she swung, she witnessed Noel spin past her blade and behind her, shoving the android into the column in front of her.

"Bloom Trigger!" as she bounced and spun around, the android couldn't recover as Noel jabbed her with Bolverk, firing a powerful shot that sent her flying across the market. The blunette got up and activated her gatling gun, opening fire as Noel approached her. The blonde jumped into the air to avoid the first hail of bullets. When the second storm approached, she started rapidly firing her guns to stop the bullets, and ended by turning Bolverk into a rocket launcher. "Sorry about this, to whoever works here. Thor!" Noel fired a missile towards the android, exploding as it hit her. When Noel landed, there was a large crater with S4-213 lying in the middle of it. The demonic android was still fully functioning, but her cloak had been nearly destroyed completely by that last attack. She had several bad injuries such as wiring, metal, and her metal skeleton was visible in several places. Sparks were coming from a wound on her side, courtesy of Noel's Bloom Trigger. The blonde was breathing heavily as she walked towards the demonic android.

"So you're… a robot…" Noel said. "I don't think I'll be able to get you to talk to me willingly, even after this then…"

S4-213 was starting to get up to her knees. Noel aimed Bolverk at the android, prompting her to stop moving unless she's shot immediately.

"I still need to learn something from you…" Noel sighed. "Alright. If I can get her to shut down or something, maybe Aguil, Lyrial, and I can subdue her and-"

"Sorry~ But as much as I think it was a mistake leaving this to an inferior model, I can't allow you to get your hands on S4-213!"

Noel was alarmed when she heard a different voice coming from the blunette. "Who was that? Who's there?!"

"An excellent question. Why don't you look behind you and find out?"

Noel was positive that this was a trap, and Bolverk was alerting her to something dangerous coming from behind. She turned around, her guns aimed and ready for another fight. However, what she wasn't expecting was a spearlike staff with a purple glow impaling her through the chest. A whirring noise was heard as Noel had a shocked look on her face. Suddenly, the spear fired a laser through the otherworlder's chest, leaving a large, bloody hole through her entire midsection as she was sent flying back into a crater that formed a few yards away from the blunette. The spear spun around midair before landing vertically on the ground. S4-213 blinked before standing up, struggling with the damage done to her. She saw S11-413 approaching her, a hand on her hip with a smug look on her face as she retrieved her spear.

"Target eliminated," she said smugly.

"Negative," the blunette replied, causing the ginger to stop looking smug. "Vital signs for 'Vermillion Blue' have not reached zero. Target still lives."

The android was telling the truth. Despite having a large wound through her chest, Noel was still clinging to life. Her blood was filling the crater she laid in, struggling to speak as she just coughed up more blood.

"There… really was more than one…!" Noel thought. "Am I… going to… die here…?"

S4-213 walked over to Noel, looking down at her with an emotionless expression. She raised her right arm, blade at the ready, and brought it down vertically towards Noel to finish her off.

CLANG

However, the demonic android was halted when her blade collided with someone's spear. Suddenly, Aguil appeared in front of Noel's body, defending her with a polearm. Aguil managed to force the blunette back with a kick. The ginger groaned, holding up her spear as the tip split apart and began charging a laser.

"You really must have a death wish, brat!" she shouted. "I told S11-096 to deal with you two!"

"Lyrial!" Aguil shouted. "Do it!"

Both androids paused as they heard a monstrous roar coming from above. Falling from the sky, they saw Lyrial heading towards them. The pinkette however, looked much different as she had glowing red eyes, and her entire body was enveloped in a black aura. Dark energy was building up in her left hand as she held it towards the ground. The girl slammed into the ground in front of the androids, creating a large area made of dark energy that consumed them, and blinded them.

"Vision reduced," S4-213 said. "Sensors have been rendered unusable. Cannot confirm the location of target-"

"Yes, yes, anything ELSE to add, Ms. Obvious?!" S11-413 shouted.

The ginger android spun her spear around to try and clear away the energy consuming them, to not much effect. It took some time, but the dark energy dispersed and all that was left was a dust cloud. Clearing away the dust, they saw that neither Noel, Lyrial, nor Aguil were around.

"…Targets have escaped."

"No shit."


Location Unknown

"Here… this should be far enough."

With the trio, Aguil and Lyrial, whose appearance was back to normal, used that diversion to take Noel and flee as fast as they could. The two managed to carry the girl to a small town that was just outside Vier-Galla. They laid Noel down on a small pile of metal, the blonde still clinging to life. Aguil searched his jacket pocket for something while Lyrial had a map in her hand.

"This should be the scrapyard in Kiln, the town we passed by on our way to Vier-Galla," Lyrial said, looking at Noel. "Are you sure this was the best place to bring her?"

"No, not really," Aguil replied, pulling out a small, cylinder potion bottle with a scarlet red liquid inside. "The best place to take Noel now would be back to Chestile and head to meet Master in Goldenia. But there's no way she'd survive that long in this condition."

Lyrial eyed the bottle in her brother's hand. "Hey, isn't that…"

Aguil nodded. "It's the healing potion Master gave me, made out of noble vampire's blood. A small drop of this is enough to fix large wounds. She may not be from the Demon Realm, but a decent amount should be enough to heal the hole in her chest at least."

"Are you even sure that this will work? That stuff's gotta be outdated by now!"

"I trust in Master. She wouldn't give this to me if it had an expiration date." Aguil removed the top from the bottle. "Sit Noel up for a second."

Lyrial gently moved Noel's body so that the girl was sitting up enough that she wouldn't choke on the potion. Aguil kneeled down to her level and realized that there was no way she would be able to swallow the liquid by herself, especially since she went partly unconscious on the way here. She was still slightly awake, but couldn't register anything that was going on. Seeing that he had no other choice, he sipped a small amount of the healing potion but didn't swallow it himself. Instead, Aguil kissed Noel in order to forcibly make her swallow the potion. The boy transferred it into Noel, successfully making her drink it as he pulled away from her lips. The two siblings stayed still for a moment as they waited to see what would happen. Suddenly, Noel started coughing as her eyes began opening up slightly.

"L… Lyrial…?" Noel slowly started to speak. "Aguil…? Where…" But it wasn't long before she passed out again.

"The potion's already doing its job," Aguil said, sighing in relief. "Though it's not instant. So her injuries are still keeping her out cold."

"So now we gotta take care of her while she recovers," Lyrial sighed. "We're idiots for letting her go out there alone, but she's an even bigger one for going out there alone in the first place. Imagine if all three of them managed to reach her."

"We did what we could to make the fight even. But we got careless, and failed to notice the third assassin. We are partially responsible for her condition. The least we can do is oversee her recovery."

"I know, I know… I just hope Master doesn't try to get in contact with us while we're away from The Saint Illustrious."


Location: Monochrome Tower

All three demonic androids rendezvous back at the top of Monochrome Tower. S11-413 retrieved the remains of S4-213's missing arm, and gave it back. The blunette's systems were beginning her self-repair feature as the android was regenerating metal from inside of her to use as parts.

"Congratulations, S4-213," S11-413 was clapping her hands sarcastically. "Leave it to Series 4 to screw up and let Vermillion Blue escape. Girl was on her last legs, and now those two interferers have probably taken care of her. Honestly, our commanding officer should've placed me or ninety-six in charge."

"Disrespect to our commanding officer and unit commander is illogical, S11-413," S11-096 stated. "There is a zero percent benefit that your complaints can contribute to our mission."

"Oh whatever. We'll just have to make up for this later by dealing with all of those nuisances. Setting the inferior model aside, care to explain why you allowed those two to reach Vermillion Blue escape?"

"I have no excuses for my failure. The two of them proved to be more skilled than I estimated. My chances for victory slipped before fifty percent quickly, and I was immobilized."

"Figures. Fine. We'll compile our battle data and begin planning our next assault. Based on the data that we've received from these fights, it should be more than enough to form a battle strategy that will easily deal with Vermillion Blue and her little duo of bodyguards." The ginger android turned to face S4-213, who was still sitting down and repairing herself. "Hey, Series 4. Are you even listening to me?"

"Affirmative," the blunette gave a simple answer, not even looking at S11-413 when she spoke. The android was focused on repairing her own body as quickly as possible.

"Man, you're so bland. Why doesn't she have a Personality Component again?"

"There was no demand or purpose for equipping a Demonic Android Unit with a personality component," S11-096 explained. "Even now, they serve us no beneficiary purpose. They only exist due to a public outcry within the Demon Realm pushing for Demonic Androids to be treated like regular demons instead of as slaves and guinea pigs, though we are both of the latter statement. This push started during the creation of the ninth series of Demonic Androids and didn't truly become easy to produce and control until the eleventh series. This is why I possess the personality of a loyal, respectful soldier who follows orders and why you have the personality of a narcissistic, vulgar, egotistical, sadistic, and cruel person, similar to what living beings would refer to as a 'brat' or a 'bitch.'"

S11-413 glared at the white haired android. "I don't know why, but I'm registering that 'bitch' word as a hostility term." She smirks and points her spear at S11-096. "Looks like I'd best deem you a threat."

"Infighting amongst us provides a zero percent benefit to our mission. Please refrain from letting your personality component take control of you."

"Tch…"

"If you believe that this will be a hindrance, perhaps we could shut you off and remove it."

"I'd rather not have another person rummaging around my insides, thank you very much."


Dusk

Location: Scrap Zone, Kiln

Much time has passed since the fight at Monochrome Tower. Aguil and Lyrial fled to the nearby town of Kiln, hoping to let Noel rest for a while so that the healing potion could heal.

"Man, I didn't think it'd be this damage till I got 'em off of her," Lyrial said, holding Noel's cape in her hand. "Sewing this is gonna be a hell of a challenge."

"I can't say I'm surprised," Aguil replied. "She went through a lot in that fight."

During her rest, the siblings had been doing their best to take care of Noel. Lyrial wanted to see if she could fix Noel's outfit as her clothes were badly damaged in her battle with S4-213. She had stripped Noel down completely, taking the time to examine all of her clothing. Lyrial didn't take long to realize that it would be a challenge to sew her outfit back together. The two didn't leave her completely exposed. They had one sheet for her to lay on so that she wasn't fully on the ground, and another one to cover her nakedness. The white sheet had a large red stain on it, right where the hole in Noel's chest was.

They also know that Noel would obviously need something else to wear while Lyrial worked on her main outfit. While she was asleep, Lyrial decided that they should take Noel's measurements so that they could go buy her something else to wear in the meantime. Aguil was the most accurate when it came to measuring, so Lyrial volunteered to hold Noel up and steady. This took a lot longer to do than expected, because it was hard for Aguil to properly do so while he had his eyes closed to avoid looking at the nude woman. Eventually they accomplished it, and Lyrial was the one who went to Vier-Galla and brought just about everything she could find for Noel, and also took care that she wasn't spotted or followed by the Demonic Androids. Everything she purchased was still in their shopping bags, untouched until Noel woke up. There were a lot of things, as Lyrial wasn't sure just how accurate the measurements were due to Aguil's… difficulty.

As the sun was setting, Aguil also went around to buy other things for the two of them, mainly food. He shopped around Kiln for most of the evening and eventually travelled to view-Galla as well, remaining unspotted as well. He wanted to buy something for Noel, but on top of not knowing what to get, it didn't seem smart to buy food for someone that had a hole through their midsection. The three were still resting inside of a pile of scrap Lyrial and Aguil put together to look like a hut. They had food, clothing, and things that they could lie down on and go to sleep when needed. All that was left was to wait for Noel to wake up and finish recovering.

"Is it night out already?" Lyrial asked.

"Just about," Aguil answered. "The sun hasn't been long since it set. Thankfully those assassins haven't caught up with us. Even managed to buy a lot of stuff despite them being out there. It's gonna be trouble taking all of this back to the airship though."

"What in the world were those three anyway? We've been here for a long time haven't we? I don't recall seeing any Demons like them."

"I think Miss Gabriel mentioned something like them once. They're called 'Demonic Androids' I believe. They're a bunch of girls that got kidnapped as children and turned into fighting machines. The Demon Realm's been using a process like this for ages. It's a very horrid process too. At least, that's what I was told."

"She told you a lot about them, huh."

Aguil looked down at the ground. "Yeah, she did…"

"Hey, pass me one of those fruits."

"Sure." Aguil reached into the bag of fruits beside him. "Which one?"

"Surprise me."

Aguil reached into the bag without looking and pulled out a lemon, tossing it to Lyrial. The girl caught it and shrugged before she started eating it. She made a sour face immediately.

"Sour…"

"Nn…"

Lyrial and Aguil looked over as they heard a quiet sound come from Noel. The blonde was starting to stir in her sleep. Her eyes opened and she sat up slowly. Lyrial sat the lemon on a cloth before walking over. Aguil got up as well. He covered his face as Noel sat up, causing her towel to fall off her chest.

"Yo, Noel," Lyrial said, bending over and waving her hand in front of her face. "You feeling better?"

"I… I'm…" Noel was starting to fully come to after what happened. She looked up and eyed Lyrial. "Lyrial? Where… am I?" The blonde looked down, and shrieked lightly when she realized she was naked. She grabbed the sheet and pulled it to her. "Why am I naked?! Wh-Where are my clothes?!"

"Oh right. Sorry about that. I wanted to see if I could repair your clothes while you were sleeping, so I undressed you."

"O-Oh, is that it?" Noel let out a sigh. "That's a r-Nngh…!" She suddenly winced in pain and held a hand over her chest. Pulling the covers back, she and Lyrial saw that the hole in Noel's chest was still present. It healed to the point that i tno longer went all the way through her body, but it was still slightly bleeding. "This is…"

Noel silently recalled how she was caught off guard by the spear from another demonic android.

"Right…"

"Are you feeling alright?" Aguil asked. "I gave you a potion to heal your wounds before you could die. You're not one hundred percent better yet, so it might not be such a good idea to move around for the time being."

"No, I'm fine…" Noel groaned in pain as she tried to sit up. Aguil and Lyrial laid her back down, but not completely.

"You don't need to rush. The important thing is that you get better."

"Yeah, Aguil and I aren't gonna let anybody hurt you while you recover," Lyrial said. "It's the least we can do for not backing you up sooner."

"No… this is my fault," Noel sighed. "I guess you were right. I wasn't as prepared for more than one assassin as I thought."

"What? You're still thinking about what I said? Nah, you only lost because of that cheap shot through the chest. You were kicking ass with your head in the game."

"Lyrial…"

"Heh." The pinkette smirked. "I don't go throwing compliments around for just anybody. You might've been a dumbass for charging on your own, but you fight as if you were a trained soldier."

"Thanks, I guess… Though, I actually am trained as a soldier."

"Really?" Aguil questioned.

"Where I'm from, I'm a former member of the Novus Orbis Librarium. I actually have experience as a soldier, so it makes sense that I'd fight like that."

"Wow, you're just full of surprises, eh?" Lyrial said.

Noel rubbed the back of her head and giggled lightly. "I guess you could put it like that." The blonde winced in pain again, her hand over her chest wound.

"Alright, alright," Aguil said. "I think that's a sign that you've been up for long enough. It's time for you to lie back down and let your body continue healing."

"But what about… those assassins?"

"We'll talk more about that once you've finished recovering."

"Just keep on getting some sleep for now," Lyrial said. "We're not going anywhere."

"Okay…" Noel closed her eyes as Lyrial and Aguil laid her down. It wasn't long before the blonde started falling asleep again. Lyrial adjusted the sheet covering Noel so that her body wouldn't be seen. She didn't put it over her face though.

"Shit, talk about one hell of a day," Lyrial said, stretching. "How long do you think it'll be before she's fully recovered?"

"Master said that potions from vampire's blood will work quickly," Aguil answered. "There's a chance that she could be fully recovered as soon as tomorrow morning."

"Oh that would be great. But now that I think about it… should we really be taking Noel back to the Saint Illustrious? We might be taking care of her now, but our main concern is always Master and Master's belongings. I don't want to risk putting that airship in danger from androids with a hell of a lot of guns."

"The only way we'll be able to come to a conclusion is to talk things over when Noel's recovered." Aguil walked over and gently lifted Noel's head, putting a pillow under her. "Until then, let's just hope that we can go the night without something happening."

"Want me to stay awake and keep watch?"

"No, there's no need. If there's any trouble, your abilities should wake you up." Aguil grabbed another pillow and sheet and laid down. Lyrial did the same, laying next to her brother under the same sheet.

"Yeah, alright." Lyrial yawned. "Goodnight Aguil."

"Goodnight Lyrial."

The two siblings turned in for the night as well. Aguil, Lyrial, and Noel were left alone in a makeshift hut. They sensed nothing that would threaten them as they prepared for a peaceful night after a long day.