By the way, I really do appreciate the numerous reviews last chapter. It's been awhile since that much feedback has been received.

As a sniper, one of the many skills Church had mastered was concealment. He knew how to disappear from view in under a minute, and he knew how to stay silent and still for hours on end, without moving a single muscle. He knew how to hide in even the most obvious of places.

However, he had not had to do anything like that for a long time, and although his skills had not grown rusty, his patience most certainly had.

At the moment, Church was lying face down in a ditch on the side of the road, with tufts of tall brown and green grass hiding him from prying eyes. He had removed his jacket and tucked it under his stomach, in an effort to hide its stark crimson red amid the natural colors around him.

Church had figured that his risqué behavior concerning Elina earlier was a little out of line, even though it was necessary. But still, even Church hadn't expected an actual manhunt for four hours. Since he had escaped Alabaster Town and its turmoil, squads of Vance soldiers had been searching high and low for him. Even Elina herself had passed by Church's hiding spot at one point, unbridled rage (and unbeknownst to Church, a little bit of embarrassment) evident on her face as she tried to flush him out of the woods and tall grass surrounding the country roads, to no avail.

Of course, if the blonde witch was out and about searching for Church personally, then things in Alabaster Town must've been under Vance control. He assumed this was simply because the fighting itself was over, but for all he knew maybe it meant Nyx had been captured. Obviously Church was hoping against the latter. Were the situation a bit safer, he may have considered going back to the town and searching for her, but as things stood he could never hope to escape capture if he was found by a decently sized squad of soldiers, or even worse, Elina herself.

Even though Nyx's safety lay heavily on his heart, Church couldn't do anything for her at this point. He could only hope that she had escaped, and that he'd be able to assure himself of that at a later date.

So for now, Church could only reasonably concern himself with his own matters. Speaking of which, he was quite unhappy with said matters. Thirty minutes ago, it had started pouring rain again, just like the time at Vance castle. Church was now convinced that being anywhere within fifty miles of that red-haired Valkyrie woman from the castle doomed you to inclement weather. Having been unable to move for the past four hours, Church was now soaked to the bone. But fortunately, the frigid drizzle from the heavens had also convinced the Vance soldiers looking for him to abandon their search. After all, a noble like Elina would never be caught in the rain like some common peasant, and as long as she wasn't around to supervise them, her soldiers were content to 'look' for Church, with almost palpable quotations around the term.

But although Church hadn't seen a soldier in at least twenty minutes, he was still staying completely immobile and silent. He knew he would be wise to wait at least thirty minutes before moving. Unfortunately, every minute he sat in this downpour was another minute he was freezing his ass off. His condition would only worsen if he stayed here for too long. And for that reason, he decided he would cut down that estimated wait time from thirty to twenty-five. Five more minutes could only hurt a little bit.

Melona slowly stalked through the empty streets of Alabaster Town, albeit in the form of a common woman with bland brown hair and few distinctive features. Airi was somewhere in the sky above her, invisible to anyone without supernatural abilities of their own. With Airi's ability to gain a bird's eye vantage point in the sky, it had been easy to see that this small town had been engaged in some sort of trouble: and if there was one thing the two inhuman girls knew about Church, it was that trouble followed him everywhere.

So with their limited time, they decided to check here for their lost companion. They had pushed the deadline for returning to the Swamp Witch for too long as it was, and if they pushed it any farther, the repercussions would be… unpleasant. No matter how much the two of them wanted to find Church again, they couldn't risk the Swamp Witch deciding to dispose of them for being incompetent.

But Airi honestly wondered why they were trying so hard. Church was their friend, that much was true. But what would they do if they reunited with him? They were returning to the swamp soon, and bringing Church along would only put him in danger, as the Witch decided to either kill him for fun or enslave him to her service.

Naturally, Airi would never allow either of those to happen. The mere thought of dooming Church to that fate… it was inconceivable at this point. Her loyalty to the Witch was not nearly enough to turn on the people she now called friend. After all, loyalty being Airi's most admirable quality, there was no greater loyalty than one had to their friends.

But even so, there seemed to be little point to finding him now. After all, they were heading to the swamp right after this. What was the point of finding Church to bring him along, if they were going to have to purposefully separate from him within a few days?

Just that thought alone weighed heavily on Airi's heart. Regardless of whether they found Church or not, this was the end of their time together… at least for any length of the foreseeable future. That alone was far more depressing than Airi would have expected. She didn't love the man in question. She had no doubt about that. But she liked him, in the kind of way that could easily grow into love when you least expected it. She liked being around him, talking to him, just knowing about him. That was enough to make her wish he was in her company.

Below, Melona was thinking similar things, albeit without the second half of Airi's more flustering thoughts. Sure, she liked Church; he was fun to be around, and even Melona would admit that he was pretty cute. But her relationship with Church was little more than that of traveling companions. Even being generous, she wouldn't use the word friend.

At least that had been the case so far. With Church's latest disappearance, Melona had concluded that she was feeling slightly different about him. The first time they had been separated from each other, Melona had missed Church more out of boredom than anything else. It was kind of a drag without him around to spice things up, especially with the ever dutiful Airi as her only companion otherwise. But now, her concern actually encompassed a more… personal level.

She was genuinely worried about him, if only a little bit. It was a foreign feeling to the slime, who rarely felt sympathetic or concerned for others. She knew he had kind of been growing on her, but even so she was fairly certain she was getting way too soft. Even so, she couldn't deny that this whole friendship thing wasn't as bad as she had always told herself it was.

Either way, the two servants' respective thoughts aside, they were both feeling the familiar disappointment of failure. They had been searching the town for roughly thirty minutes, and since the settlement was so small, the two of them had already almost scoured the entire place. They had even investigated some of the inns, bars, and shops, yet there had been no sign of their lost companion and friend.

What there had been signs of throughout Alabaster Town was that of an intense struggle in the marketplace and the streets. There was scorched buildings and rubble everywhere, and even now wounded soldiers were still being carried to appropriated homes to be treated or at least allowed to rest in comfort. It was obvious that whatever had happened here had not been Church's work alone.

Their search efforts in vain thus far, Melona and Airi quietly slunk into an alley, careful to avoid the eyes of the rather large contingent of Vance soldiers here. Once they were safely hidden, Airi returned to the visible realm for Melona's sake. A pained expression of worry and disappointment was clear on her face.

"Why did this have to happen now? I knew we'd have to split eventually, but I didn't want it to be like this…the result of an accident of all things..."

Melona felt ever so slightly the same, but she decided that she didn't want to admit that to Airi, for personal dignity if nothing else.

"Well it was gonna happen either way. At least like this we don't have to explain or deal with any fallout from him. We can just get on with our lives, y'know?"

Melona noticed how Airi's usually vibrant emerald eyes darkened at the slime's words. The scowl on the wraith's face deepened even further, although it was now clearly directed at her. "Just get on with our lives? You say that as though Church was nothing more than a nuisance this whole time!"

A little angry that Airi had raised her voice at her, Melona continued to fuel the fire that she had inadvertently lit. "Wasn't he though? I mean, it's because of him that we're probably gonna get punished when we get back to the swamp! If we hadn't wasted our time constantly saving his ass, we'd still be on the Witch's good side! Even now we're wasting our fucking time!"

At this, Airi's countenance was not only filled with anger, but disbelief as well. Melona had not honestly expected her to defend Church so vehemently. More importantly, Airi was angry to be blamed for the time spent finding Church back in the forest: that had been Melona's idea, after all. "Are you serious, Melona!? Church was your friend, he cared about you! He-"

Melona cut off her embittered friend before she could continue. "He cared about you, Airi. You'd have to be fucking blind to miss the way he looked at you all the time. For all the difference it made I may as well have not even existed this whole time."

Airi refrained from slapping the pink blob of goo before her, knowing that it would be pointless anyway. "That's a lie and you know it! You know damn good and well that he didn't see you that way! He cared about you too; how dare you treat that like it was nothing!"

Melona's gelatinous body tensed at Airi's words and harsh tone, but she was equally angry, although the slime couldn't quite tell why. "If you're so hell-bent on finding your imaginary lover, do it yourself, Airi. I've got better things to do."

The Infernal Temptress ground her teeth in rage, knowing that she couldn't do anything to harm Melona without attracting every soldier in the town. That being the case, she turned on her heel to leave the alley, but not before whirling around and jabbing an accusatory finger at Melona.

"This whole situation is your fucking fault anyway, Melona! If you weren't so horribly incompetent, none of this would have even happened in the first place!"

The furious tone in Airi's voice froze anything Melona had to say back, more so out of astonishment than fear. Airi rarely ever lost her cool, and she hardly ever snapped so viciously. Since Melona was unable to muster any retort at the moment, Airi quickly took her leave, fading into her surroundings with a deep scowl marring her usually serene face.

Melona of course thought of something to say just after the maid left, although it turned out to be nothing but a mutter. "Fucking bitch…"

Nevertheless, everything Melona had just said replayed through her mind, spurred by Airi's parting words, and for the first time she could remember in essentially forever, she was disgusted with herself.

Sheets of cold rain fell from darkened skies as Church trudged along muddied ground. Having forsaken the idea of traveling through woods once more, he had gone in the opposite direction, towards a long expanse of grassland. He had no idea what direction he was going, or if he was stumbling towards civilization at all, but Church figured it was in his best interest to get away from Alabaster Town and any roads leading to it.

Still, he had begun walking two hours ago, and there had been no end to the rain since. Not only that, but there had been no signs of civilization either. Needless to say, with nothing but Church's by now tattered casual clothing from New Eden, he was getting cold. Only his durable, waterproof jacket provided any protection from the elements.

As things stood now, Church was likely to get a case of hypothermia before he found shelter. In hindsight, he realized that the woods may have been a better path. At least the trees would have offered some cover from the rain.

Fortunately, it was now more of a drizzle than a downpour: but coupled with the rough winds of an area without many trees, the biting cold felt worse than it really was. Further adding to Church's problems, he didn't have any survival supplies with him. The only thing he did have was a relatively full belly, considering that he had eaten within the last twenty-four hours.

He could survive without food for longer than a week, but water was a different story. If Church didn't find some sort of settlement soon, he'd have to find a way to catch some of this rainwater. Unfortunately, without trees around, he wouldn't be able to gather any firewood, and without fire, it was impossible to purify it... but if he had no choice, it wouldn't really matter anyway. He'd do what he had to. Heck, he could just walk with his mouth open as things were right now.

This continuous stream of concerning thoughts made it easy for Church to lose himself in his mind while he walked straight and narrow through this seemingly endless plain of grass. The effect was so engrossing, that Church may have walked for minutes or hours by the time he finally noticed a difference in the surrounding landscape: he honestly couldn't tell.

What he had noticed was that the knee-high grass he was walking through had given way to a new type of footing: loamy soil, carved into rows and inter-spaced with ears of corn. Briefly confused by this change, Church looked up from the ground, where he had been staring for quite a while now, to look around the new area.

He found himself standing in what was obviously farmland, as much of the surrounding landscape was organized into plots for harvest. Church could spy rows of corn, potatoes, and many other crops for several acres around. Off to the left a bit was a small farmhouse, with a shed and a fenced-in area beside it.

Looking back the way he had come, Church saw nothing but the expanse of grass he had traversed. He was a little flummoxed as to why a farm
would be out here in the middle of nowhere: usually such places were near roads that led to villages or other such signs of civilization.

Church caught himself thinking of these things, and berated himself for questioning his own good luck. Here was a farm, which no doubt had plenty of resources for him to tap into. Only a fool would frown on such a fortunate turn of events.

With a new found spring in his step, Church attempted to shrug off the cold, though he had minimal success, and headed towards the farmhouse a few hundred meters in the distance. He was careful to avoid stepping on the many crops between himself and his goal. Church briefly contemplated his approach: should he knock and ask for assistance, or merely take what he needed out from under their noses?

Church knew it would be unlikely for him to find everything he'd need without entering the farmhouse itself. After all, blankets and clean drinking water probably wouldn't be kept in the sheds outside, and sneaking into a farmhouse that no doubt housed many family members would be difficult. And besides, Church wasn't very keen on the idea of robbing a family for his own sake. These people out here probably had it tough enough already.

So for both practical and moral reasons, Church decided to go with the first course of action, and politely ask for aid. If the farmer turned out to be an asshole or stingy beyond reason, then Church would consider option two.

With the decision made, Church came up to the rough wooden door that was the portal between the outside and the farmhouse. He was careful where he knocked, eyeing the many splinters in the chunk of wood before him. He was in a foul mood as it was already, and the last thing he needed was a two-inch splinter in his hand.

Having carefully avoided those 'deadly' spikes of wood, Church rapped on the door before him, praying that someone was home, although he couldn't imagine a farmer taking his family with him somewhere and leaving the place unattended. After all, if Church peeked around the corner of the home, he could see a fenced-in area with plenty of animals, even though they were all taking shelter from the rain beneath whatever they could find in their pen. The family here wouldn't just leave their animals completely unattended, right?

However, when no answer to his knock was forthcoming, Church was forced to reconsider. He found it hard to believe that this place would be completely devoid of residents… but last time he had checked with Airi, the Vance region wasn't exactly the most stable of places. After all, Mirim had told him that she herself would be moving with her family towards the Queen's Lands because of civil and economic unrest in the area. If that was the case, then it wasn't that far-fetched to assume other families had moved as well.

Church turned away from the seemingly abandoned farmhouse, resigning himself to eating whatever vegetables he could pluck out of the ground. But before he took two steps into the still-going downpour of cold rain, Church heard the old door creak open behind him, gradually, as if whoever had opened the portal was anxious to discover who was on the other side.

Church turned back to face whoever had opened the door to greet him or her as politely as he could, in hopes of securing their good will. He was met with the charming face of a middle-aged, motherly looking woman with long, black hair that was beginning to gray ever so slightly. Her warm brown eyes were filled with worry, although Church could tell it wasn't because of his presence. As soon as this woman saw that Church was not a soldier to collect extortionate taxes for the umpteenth time, a gentle, welcoming smile graced her features.

"Oh dear, you look cold out there. Why don't you come in? I just finished making dinner."

Church was taken aback by the sudden generosity. This woman knew nothing about him, yet she was already offering a great deal. He hadn't even said anything yet. "Ma'am, I can't ask you to do that: I wouldn't want to impose on your time with your family. I only need some water…"

The woman cut him off with a no-nonsense, and more importantly, no backtalk tone. "Don't think you can get off so easily. You look soaked and cold and I can't in good conscience let you leave here without helping you out. Come on in now, I promise we don't bite. I won't even be able to sleep tonight if I don't at least set you up for wherever you're going."

Church tried unsuccessfully to suppress a grateful smile. He had met people with such cheerful and kind dispositions a few times throughout his life, but he never really got used to them. Their overly-kind, generous, and friendly attitudes were just so… alien, almost. In a world were cruelty and cold-hearted indifference reigned supreme, kindness to an extent like this was a true rarity.

"Alright, but you'll have to promise me that you'll let me pay you back somehow. After all, if I don't return your generosity and kindness, the guilt will keep me from a good night's sleep for years."

The older woman nodded with a knowing smile, beckoning for Church to come in with a wave of her arm clad in a long brown woolen dress. It must have been a little nippy inside as well. Church had to remind himself that he was currently in an era that didn't have indoor heating.

Still, this wasn't any situation to be complaining about. Church gave a grateful smile to the motherly-looking woman in the doorway and proceeded to follow her into her home, making a conscious effort to shake as many droplets of water from his form as he could before doing so, although it did little good.

Stepping inside, Church immediately found himself in a small, narrow hallway. The left side of the hallway ended in little more than a dead end, with a small coat rack that was mostly occupied, although Church found a little space on the end to hang his soaked crimson red jacket. He made sure to kick his shoes off as well, lest he track mud in the house of his gracious hostess.

Having done so, he turned to the right, seeing that the relatively short hallway led right into the living room: or he at least assumed it was so, since there was a hearth in there, complete with blazing orange flames warming the house to the best of its abilities.

Church followed the woman who had let him into her house into the next room, feeling more than a little awkward at being invited into a complete stranger's home. She was awfully trusting of him, considering that he had been a stranger on her doorstep, which just so happened to be miles from any towns. Church would've expected this woman to at least be a little suspicious… but some people just didn't have that in their nature. It was a curse at times, being too trusting, but it also made them incredibly friendly, and by extension, a boon to others.

Church felt a slight pang of trepidation as he stepped into the living room, expecting to find the rest of the family within, ready to openly stare at the intruder in their home. Strangely, he found no such thing, as the living room, with a few rocking chairs and fur mats lying around to insulate the place, was empty. He supposed the family could have been dispersed throughout the house... after all, kids liked their privacy and Church assumed that the parents had their own things to do as well.

Then again, this woman could've been living alone, but considering the decent size of this house, not to mention the labor that would be necessary to manage the farm assets outside, led Church to believe otherwise.

The estranged man was broken out of his thoughts as the woman ahead of him called up a set of stairs Church had just now noticed.

"Sera? We have a guest for dinner, and the food is almost ready. Why don't you come down, sweetie?"

Finished with her call, the dark-haired woman moved into the kitchen, directly connected to the living room. Curious himself, Church paused for a moment to glance up the wooden stairs in hopes of catching a glimpse of the person that had been called. However, he quickly realized how strange it would be for a woman to come down the stairs only to find a strange man expectantly staring up at her.

Perhaps it was this kind of density that occasionally earned those displeased glances from Airi when she dealt with him? Shaking his mind of those thoughts, to avoid criticizing himself and to keep his focus away from someone he sorely missed, Church followed his hostess into the kitchen.

It was a rather plain room, with almost every piece of furniture made out of oak wood or something similar. There was a counter with an old fuel-burning stove and a rather dinky looking sink off to the right, and a rough circular wooden table with four chairs spaced around it in somewhat even intervals.

Beyond that, there was a lamp hanging from a hook on the wall, providing what little faint light there was in here. It was simple living, through and through: nothing like the luxury and comfort available to just about everyone on New Eden, although that was because there were a lot less residents to supply than pre-NOVA Earth. Cataclysmic events tended to have that effect, diminishing the population and all.

His hostess motioned for Church to head back into the living room and sit beside the fire while she finished preparing the final touches on dinner. Although he still felt awkward and out of place, Church could find no reason to not do so. He just hoped his stay here wouldn't be a long one: regardless of how well he handled himself with strangers, Church knew he would feel uncomfortable for the entire time he stayed here.

Shrouded in the long shadow of a looming residential building in Alabaster Town, Nyx did her best to treat the significant wounds she had received from her melee with Elina mere hours ago. In hindsight, it was a good thing she had fled the field of battle before she sustained any serious injuries.

Needless to say Nyx was by no means satisfied with running from Elina yet again, as she had when she was a child, but her defeat had drained her of energy, and even with Funikura, her chances of beating Elina while tired were slim.

Besides, in a fist-fight with a girl who basically had a claw on one hand, major wounds were inevitable. Currently, Nyx had the slight gouges in her neck where Elina had choked her, a shallow but painful gash across her abdomen, and a burning scratch on the outside of her right thigh. Beyond that, she was covered in bruises and scrapes, but none of those wounds would be fatal.

Her many injuries had led to a lot of bleeding, but thankfully Nyx had managed to staunch them with scraps from the waitress outfit she had been wearing for her job at the bar. While her medical knowledge was limited, Nyx had long ago learned how to survive on the streets before she had risen out of the shadows of abuse and neglect.

Of course, Nyx knew she'd have to find a real doctor sooner than later. Even though her injuries wouldn't scar thanks to Funikura's mysterious demonic energy, for which she was grateful, the open wounds, especially the one across her stomach, would require further medical attention.

But for now, just a few hours after the fiasco that the town had been embroiled in, her condition was more or less stable, and all she really wanted to do was rest and collect her thoughts.

She had lost, quite shamefully too, having barely caused any damage to Elina at all throughout their entire fight. No doubt Funikura was displeased about that, but even the hellish monster knew that punishing Nyx with its usual methods while she was in her current state would be severely damaging. For now the evil staff just glared at his wielder disdainfully, even while it hungrily gazed at her body with its single crimson eye.

Nyx on the other hand, was almost completely oblivious to Funikura's displeasure. Her mind was reeling with events from the previous day, and the significant blood loss was making her just a little loopy. It was hard for her to focus on the present, and far easier to just rest her head against the wall behind her and remember the past instead.

A man had actually stood up for her: to a soldier, and an officer, no less. Nyx was no stranger to abuse, having spent most of her childhood at Elina's beck and call, not to mention spending the second half of her life being viewed as some clumsy ditz by every half-drunk asshole around. It had taken considerable effort on her part to not just use Funikura and its gifts to incinerate people that treated her like trash, but Nyx was acutely aware of the hunt that would follow her actions when news spread of a 'fire-wielding witch.'

No, she had endured the torment of just about every man she had ever met, and had long ago labeled most if not all men as lecherous, sadistic bastards hardly worth the beer they guzzled down by the gallon. But then this one man, in weird clothes of a foreigner she had never seen, had shattered her stereotype, built throughout the years in an instant.

He had seen her as something other than eye candy, or some sort of toy. He had actually intervened on her behalf just because someone else was treating her poorly. Maybe he had just been itching for a fight. He may have just found the disturbance in the bar annoying, and sought to silence it. Or maybe he had just thought the pretty girl would fall at his feet for saving her.

Somehow Nyx knew none of those were true. Whatever it was, whether it was the tone of his voice when he asked her if she was okay or the look of genuine concern in his eyes when he looked upon her, she couldn't tell, but somehow Nyx knew that the man who had come to her rescue did it because he was a good person. An incredibly good-looking good person.

He had even risked his safety for her a second time by attacking Elina to provide her with an opportunity to escape, despite her own foolishness in endangering them to begin with.

And while she was truly disappointed to have been separated from him so soon after their meeting, Nyx was sure her dreams would be filled with fantasies of an ideal romance for weeks to come.

Well, I was planning on making this just a little bit longer, but I just don't have time at the moment, and if I wait it will be another two or three days until I can update again. It's been awhile, so I would prefer to update sooner than later.