With the sun warming her back, she climbed up a soft slope. Knowing the area near the church like the back of her hand, she made her way to the best spot to sit at—under an old tree at the highest point of a grassy hill.
Beneath the swaying leaves, Noel found her sister exactly where she had guessed she would be. "Juusan, how are you feeling?" After awakening from her deep slumber, she had discarded her old name.
Sitting at the base of the tree with her knees tucked close to her chest, Juusan looked up before smiling thinly. "I'm fine." Still, a hint of irritation at being spoken to during her alone time showed on her face.
"I'm just here to tell you that dinner is ready. Lambda made a special meal. She also packed a few extra treats for your trip, so don't forget to pick it up before you go." Noel didn't want to disturb her too often or annoy her by asking too many questions.
Her sister averted her eye. With a hand, she swept loose strands of hair back behind her ear. The wind blew strong at the top of this hill. "…I'll join you both later. Gimme a few moments."
"Sure. But don't take too long, or else the food will get cold." Noel then turned and left. From tomorrow onwards, it was going to be just her and Lambda. Even though it lasted shorter than she had wanted, being home together was something she would not soon forget. All three of them living as a family at the church brought back faded memories of the kind-hearted nun and the two children who once lived there.
It felt strange to be free, enough to make her contemplate on the meaning of the word itself. But eventually, she found herself drawn to something she had to do.
Juusan tried to not dwell on the past as her feet moved her to her next destination.
The few belongings she carried consisted of a repurposed sword, Lambda's cookies, and a tattered coat from the old church's buried cellar whose color brought a comforting warmth to her heart. Red really suited her. The coat also served to cover a fresh scar on her chest, created when she attempted to purge all traces of her old self.
Apart from those physical items, one more quasi-intangible thing remained in her possession.
Fused inside her body was the core of the first Nox Nyctores ever made—Gigant: Takemikazuchi, an ars magus weapon of mass destruction. Wielding it with the help of Noel, she had severely injured the Black Beast and tipped the battle in humanity's favor. After firing the weapon, she then succumbed to the overexertion on her soul.
Or at least that was what she had been told upon waking up.
No matter how long she reflected on her earliest memories, Juusan had no recollection about the battle nor absorbing the Nox Nyctores' power; only a twisted outlook of the world remained in her memories after leaving her containment coffin. While she did receive credit for contributing towards the destruction of the Black Beast, she didn't care to cherish anything about her past. Those dark, obsessive sentiments she had aimed towards something or someone now felt foreign, disgusting her to no end.
To get rid of everything she despised, she had to leave. Not even the pleading look on Noel's face could overturn her decision.
Out of nowhere, her right eye throbbed and a shiver coursed through her body. "Damn it..." She pressed a hand over her bandaged eye. "W-what's happening?" Her senses alerted her to potential danger, homing in on someone ahead of her.
At a junction of dirt paths, a silhouette jumped down from his perch on the boulder marking the area. "This is the presence…? No, not quite the same."
Juusan couldn't quite make out his appearance, only a faint outline distorting the space. In order to keep a low profile, she had chosen to only move during the night and traveled on smaller roads. For this man to intercept her here could potentially mean trouble. She fought past some kind of instinctual agitation coming from what was left of 'Nu'. "Who is this? Are you following me?"
"Who I am is irrelevant to you, Murakumo. Now tell me, where do you intend on going?" A clear disdain mixed itself into his voice.
"I'm free to go wherever I please. Don't get in my way or you'll pay for it." Only her sisters knew that she had left, so she loathed to have a stranger discover her whereabouts.
A short pause settled in as a hard breeze passed by, kicking up some dust. "So be it. As it stands, I have no right in denying you. However, should we cross paths again, I won't let you go so easily… Get out of my sight before I change my mind."
"…" She gladly took the chance to hurry off, turning to go down a sidepath. Something told her to give him a wide berth unless she wanted to risk death. Once certain she had put enough distance, Juusan let the tension ease from her body before resuming her normal pace.
The Boundary had been calling for her ever since she awakened, beckoning for her to leave her home world. Somewhere in there, the 'truth' she had been searching for slept far from anyone's reach. She would do anything to appease this longing.