The Meanderer

by xeveningx

"The world is beautiful and pure, it's the weeds in it that ruin it." And to save the world she loves, Noé will do what she must: find her friends to free her master. But as she learns what saving it implies, discourse stirs in her. Is it really worth saving anymore? "It's not the world that's worth saving," a red cub told her. It's hard to understand his words.

13. Letting the Light In

Chapter Thirteen:

Letting the Light In

---

|i.|

"I can't believe this place hasn't changed…"

It was all Noé could say to describe what she saw before her. Standing close to the edge of a small hill that stood over the vast field full of nothing but flowers, emerald eyes wandered over all of it and took every inch they could in. She truly never got tired of such a beautiful sight. It frankly astounded her just how amazingly beautiful the places in this new world were.

Sometimes even more beautiful than home.

Pernadius, quiet and careful as ever so as not to scare her, walked up to her side. Dressed as he was in more casual clothing, he stood close by as she held onto her arm with her other hand and laid his own on top of it.

"Truly hasn't, huh." Giving her some space, he smiled brightly at her. "I'm glad I brought you here that time. You know, I wanted to bring you here back then because this place reminds me a lot of you."

The sudden declaration brought a bit of color to her cheeks but more than that, it filled her with enough confusion to give him a sidelong glance. "Of me?"

He nodded and looked down the hill to the two children that ran along the field carefree as could be. Following his gaze, Noé watched over her son and Pernadius' daughter as they took to enjoying the end of their journey in their own way. Despite being the same age, the two were very much different from one another. Her little boy had just turned four years of age a week ago but because of his heritage, he appeared to be a boy of six. Quite bigger physically than Nadi's little girl that chased after him. It's better this way, she always thought despite the disgusted looks they would get back in Reim for Elior's rather quick growth.

She knew there was only her to blame for this. Specifically, her blood. It seemed that the quarter of Vastagian blood she passed on ran deeper than a human's. He grew far quicker than others, his mind following just as quickly, but there was no way she would take away the childhood he deserved to have because of that. As she watched him tumble and circle the fields with Nadi's daughter, Noé thought about Pernadius' words for a moment before turning to him quizzically.

"I don't see it."

"You said it's beautiful, didn't you?" His words got her to smile tenderly as her fingers carded through the loose strands of auburn waves. Taking her by the hand, he guided her closer to the edge so they could sit on the soft grass beneath them. "It's nothing but pure nature. No country has touched these parts as of yet, not even Reim, and so it remains unhindered and free to grow as it may. Wild and beautiful."

Noé took his words to heart, her hand reaching up to gently cradle against her chest. Emerald eyes turned to Elior then as he jumped chasing after dragonflies. As he did so, her eyes caught sight of the small stubs protruding from makeshift holes on the back of his tunic. Immature wings. Ones that unlike hers were normal and would get to grow normally as hers never had the chance to.

"It reminds me much more of him," she offered. "He's the one who'll get to grow unhindered by anybody else. He will grow surrounded by those who love him and who accept him as he is."

The sudden warmth of a hand on top of her own as she leaned on it surprised her somewhat and made her face him as he offered her a smile. "You can do that too, you know. Grow unhindered and surrounded by people who love you."

The weary smile that barely managed to lift her lips seemed tired. Noé didn't deem that statement worthy of an answer. Nothing she told Pernadius would dissuade him from his point of view. No matter how wrong she knew it was. She was free now, yes, but she wasn't loved. At least not in any way that she could say was hers alone. Noé was aware that he held some sorts of feelings towards her—why would he have asked her to run away that one day years ago otherwise—but he couldn't freely act on them. Not with the new family he had now. Not with a daughter to look after and another on the way. Scheherazade, now that they had become closer friends, was always fun and quite refreshing to be around with. But even she knew that the young magi only had the wellbeing of Reim in her heart. And for as much as she came to know the rest of Pernadius' friends, Noé knew that they were cordial and kind out of nature, not out of any want or need to become closer to her.

If anybody loved her, it was Elior. And she was fine with that.

"You have me as well, kid." Chief's kind words echoed in her head gently. "I'll always be here."

From over her dress, Noé took a hold of the silver arrowhead and felt its warmth spread across her hand and chest. Yes, she had Andromalius, she had Elior. That was enough for her.

"Moti, Moti, look!"

Noé turned at the sound of her boy calling out to her. Elior ran towards her with Pernadius' little daughter trotting at a faster pace to try and keep up with him and both came up short before her and Pernadius. He held something in his cupped hands while the little girl giggled by his side.

"What do you have there, Elly?" Pernadius asked.

Both giggled again before he opened his hands and showed them the small dragonflies he'd caught that zoomed out of his hand the moment he opened it. Both let out a disappointed 'aww' at seeing them leave but Noé chuckled at their reaction before ruffling his hair.

"I saw you catching them. It was quite impressive."

Hearing the compliment, Elior turned to her, cheeks a bit flushed and chuckled before taking the little girl's hand and going off again into the field of flowers. Being reminded of the flowers, Noé reached down to the closest one and plucked it off of the ground. She twirled the flower by its stem and watched the petals swirl in their color before her as a thought crossed her mind.

"Nadi."

"Mm?"

"Promise me that if anything ever happens to me that you will look after Elly."

The sudden shift of mood brought on by the question made Pernadius chuckle incredulously before shaking his head. "You shouldn't say such things."

"You say I shouldn't, yet experience is telling me I should," she replied. "I've seen many things in this world before I met you, Nadi. I've seen people tear each other down for the fame and glory that a title could give them. I've also seen them fight over much less. You have no way of knowing what will happen in the future. Neither do I for that matter. But with you going off to war on Reim's behalf and myself staying behind with Scheherazade protecting the city, there's bound to be loss somewhere. I want to be prepared in case it comes to me."

"I won't let it," he reassured her.

The knowledge of his doggedness kept her from disagreeing. Why can't he see the world the way I see it when he's seen how terrible it can be?

"Because," Andromalius began with a tender tone to her voice. "Compared to you, he has seen but a flash of time in his lifetime. And it will be so no matter how much you wish differently."

That's right. Noé kept forgetting just how much time separated them. Compared to her, he was but a boy. One she loved very deeply. Her dumb and bright Nadi.

"Just promise me, Pernadius," Noé finally whispered. "If death is to come for me, I don't want Elior to be left alone in a world full of strangers. I want him to be with people like you and your little girl. With people who won't hate him for being born the way he is."

Pernadius wanted to object. That much was obvious by the way he averted his gaze and by how his lips pursed pensively. But if Noé knew anything about Pernadius, it was that he would never say no to her.

"I will, Noé. I promise."

Only then did she give him a small smile in return.

I hope you understand one day, Nadi, that someone has to look after them. Someone has to protect those who come after us so that they live beyond us. So that they can live to make something better of the mess we've left them.

---

|ii.|

"It's so pretty here!"

"Ain't it?"

Noé chuckled at Rhea's wonderful cheerfulness as they finally reached the end of the path that opened into a vast flower field. The instant Rhea saw the grand space blooming with flowers for as far as her eyes could see, Noé knew what the little cub wanted to do. Grabbing the napsack that Rhea had been carrying over her shoulder, Noé nodded out towards the field with a grin.

"Go have fun. I'll get everything ready."

Red eyes went wide and lit up like a gem seconds before the little cub took off jumping around in the field. Noé found a spot just at the base of a tall hill and sat down for a moment to take a breather. Looking around, it surprised her that the place was still just as she remembered it even after more than 200 years.

It's still as beautiful as I remember.

"It is," Chief agreed before taking a long sigh. "But do remind me why you've brought the little Fanalis here again."

To relax, of course.

Yet another month had come and gone with her stay in Reim and between training herself and helping Alibaba master his djinn equip, Noé found herself in the need of some well deserved vacations. Curiosity had been the culprit that brought her back to this field though. She could've well found some place to relax out of Reim—the beaches of Sindria or Kou's festivities this time of year certainly sounded enticing—but in the end, she decided that a quiet picnic in such a peaceful field would be much better than any other. Now, as for why Rhea was here, well, it'd been hard to ignore the little cub. Ever since her brother left on a mission with the cub and a couple other Fanalis a week ago, Rhea had been down on the dumps. It began to worry both her and Myron when the little Fanalis wouldn't train or even play with the other little ones. It wasn't until Shambala suggested she take some time off to enjoy herself and chose to come here that the bright idea to bring Rhea along came to her.

Two birds with one stone. Aren't I just brilliant?

Chief scoffed at her smugness but Noé could practically see the smile her next words came with. "I will say you chose correctly for once. She does appear to be in much higher spirits now than she's been for the past week. Young cub must really miss her brother."

"He's the only family she has," Noé said under her breath as she sat up and set her bag and Rhea's down on the grass. "It's normal that she's worried, but it shouldn't be the only thing she thinks of."

"That would be wise advice were it not coming from the one who doesn't worry about a single thing and instead slacks off all the time."

"Don't be so superfluous, Chief. I don't slack off all the time."

Her djinn let out a small chuckle then. "Could've fooled me."

Calling Rhea over once done, Noé made sure to feed the hungry little Fanalis after she spent herself running around in the flower field for half an hour. That Rhea wasn't sulking every other second brought a tender smile to Noé's face. It was good to know that she could help the little girl with at least that much on her day off.

"Noé onee-san?"

"Mm?"

"Thank you for bringing me along with you. I've never been on a picnic before. But it's really, really fun!"

The little cub hadn't even finished her snack and was already thanking her. Bless her little heart. The tenderness on her smile turned to a grin as excitement came back to her.

"Don't make it sound like it's over just yet. We've still got some hours of daylight before we're to head back. So finish that up and we'll get playing some more, how's that sound?"

Utterly enthused, Rhea did as she was told and by the time they put everything away, Noé turned to playing tag with her, flashing each way to get away from Rhea's little spurts of speed. Laughter bubbled out of her all the while playing with the little Fanalis cub. Her heart warmed at how familiar this was, how similar this was to when her own little boy was with her—alive—and playing around in this same field just like Rhea did.

"So much for not being good with dealing with children, huh?"

I have no idea what you mean.

"Sure you don't," Chief replied with a chuckle.

Noé would never admit it to Chief, despite how painfully obvious it was. She would never admit that she loved interacting with children in spite of the pain their very presence brought her. Because, even when seeing them reminded her of her Elior, it also reaffirmed to her that she hadn't been a bad mother for all of it. Yes, she'd been the worst on that very last moment for trusting people she shouldn't have with her most precious person, but everything before that—every small little thing from the moment he was born up to the moment she left him in Scheherazade's care that fateful day—had been good. She had been good. That alone was enough to make her burden of having made that one horrid choice a little easier to deal with.

So if she asked herself if she enjoyed her time spent with Rhea, it would've been a resounding 'yes', no matter how much it pained her in the end to remember what she had lost.

Chasing those horrid thoughts out of her mind, Noé motioned over for Rhea to follow her after playtime. The little Fanalis gladly let her lead, even helping her with some of their belongings as Noé guided them into the woods and into the thick of them. No path was set, something that didn't really surprise her. Even after these many years, there was still no sign of any type of human contact. It was truly astounding to think that even with so many countries spreading their territory throughout the world, there were still places left untouched by them.

I suppose nature will always find somewhere to be free.

"Where are we going, onee-san?"

"You'll see." Spotting a few wild flowers growing about, she bent at one bed while pointing to another not far away. "Would you pick some of those flowers for me, Rhea? The prettiest ones you can find."

"Mm!" Rhea dashed away smiling from cheek to cheek as she picked away.

"Are you going to visit?"

Might as well.

With a makeshift bouquet in hand, they continued further into the woods and soon Noé spotted the small headstone that stood amidst a clearing surrounded by a thicket and white blooming flowers. Noé carefully lowered herself before it, tucking her legs beneath her and accommodating her wing hidden beneath her clothes comfortably behind her. Rhea took a few steps closer too and bent down to get a closer look on the words etched on the old stone.

"To a great...hero...and friend." Curious, her crimson eyes turned to Noé. "Who is this, onee-san?"

"A friend of mine." Carefully, she placed the small bouquet they gathered along the way. "He passed away long before you or any of the other Fanalis were born."

"Really?"

"Really, really."

"Why is he all the way out here and so hidden away?"

Noé took a moment to take in that question. It had been something that both Diana, her daughter and even Scheherazade had asked and demanded an answer for centuries ago. Frankly, she didn't know why she did it herself. Everything about that day was a blurry memory. Killing Perseus, massacring those who killed Elior, burying him—it was all a big blur. Within it though, she recalled having returned to the battlefield in the break of dawn after having wept all night after her son's burial. Reim was still at a loss for words, moreso actions, and remained mournful for over a week. Her own sorrow, though etched onto her for the rest of her life, was something she only displayed two times. Both of them during burials.

Elior's had been the hardest, but burying Pernadius out here in the open and so far away from Reim had been tough on her as well. It surprised her that none of them had bothered looking for their fallen general. Perhaps she had been too fast. It didn't matter to her back then just like it didn't matter to her now. Those people could lavish his memory and likeness with fame and glory, but Pernadius was human like the rest of them.

And after all he had done, he deserved peace.

So Noé told no one of where he was buried. Not even Scheherazade.

Letting Rhea off to chase after rabbits that kept appearing around the thickets allowed her to sit quietly before the headstone, reminiscing about the man that laid beneath the earth as nothing more than dust now.

"Have you ever considered telling the magi?"

"About where he is?" Noé asked with a smirk before scoffing. "It's never crossed my mind. Not once."

"I've always wondered if this fits into your sense of justice."

"I don't do justice," she corrected Chief. "And though it might seem like this is me being petty, I am really doing it for his sake. He deserves to rest peacefully. Just like Elior did."

Chief refrained from commenting any further. Though Noé hadn't intended for that to be the case, she took what she could get. I'll join you a bit in your peace, Nadi. And she did. She bathed in that quietness with only the rustling of rabbits and Rhea's laughter washing over her from time to time until the sun finally touched the horizon and slit through the thicket of the trees to reach her. Signaling that it was finally time to return home.

The thought caught Noé off guard, stopping her midway up from her seat. Out of the blue, she chuckled, unable to believe how much she believed those words.

Home. Reim was home again.

Never thought that would happen.

"We can't have that now...can we?"

A pain struck her shoulder making her wince by its sudden appearance and reach up to grab onto it. Chief clammored over her but when it left as fast as it came, Noé dismissed it easily enough and readied everything for them to leave. But just as she packed the last of their belongings, she heard it.

A scream.

Noé instantly shot up at the sound of it.

Rhea.

The single thought didn't let her think as her blood rushed through her veins and she flashed to where she'd last spotted her. She reappeared further into the woods and glanced around frantically in search of the little Fanalis.

"Rhea! Rhea! Where are you!?"

"N-Noé, you need to be calm!"

"How the hell do you want me to be calm!" she hissed before running further into the woods shouting Rhea's name as loud as she could.

"Noé—"

"I'm not calming down until I find her!"

"No, over there!"

The sudden change of tone in Chief's voice caught Noé off guard but she listened quickly enough to catch sight of something more horrid that boiled her blood. Men. One with keys dangling on his hips. Another with an unconscious Rhea over his shoulder—

And chains around her wrists and ankles.

Slave traders.

"Noé, don't!"

Too late. Her anger didn't allow her any time to listen. Rushing in, Noé jumped and twirled in midair, mimicking one of the signature moves from the Fanalis she'd learned from sparring with them and kicked the living daylights out of one of them. Crouching down after landing, she didn't let the other even register her presence. Flashing before he could see where she was, she swept his legs from under him before lifting her leg and swinging it downward with enough force to feel the cracking of his bones under her heel. Once they were dealt with, Noé took Rhea into her arms and quickly checked her over.

No wounds. She's still breathing even if it's kind of slow. So why? Why isn't she waking up?!

"Compose yourself, Noélia!" Chief's sudden commanding tone grounded Noé long enough to hear her out. "She's merely unconscious. They must've hit her with some sedative when they realized she was a Fanalis." Her words somewhat made sense. It was still hard for Noé to think with her mind in such a frenzy though. "Noé, listen. You have to get out of here. There could be more—"

Crack.

Emerald eyes shot wide open and adrenaline rushed through her the instant she heard a branch break. But before she could turn tail and get herself and Rhea out of there, something struck her neck. It pricked her—a needle—and almost instantly she felt herself go numb. It was strange how fast her brain disconnected from the rest of her body. She slumped down to the ground, dropping Rhea as well the moment she hit the ground, and could only watch as from the corner of her eye a pair of feet stepped closer and the guttural sound of a man's laughter came to her ears.

"That was close."

The groaning from one of the men she had knocked out came from behind her as he woke up. Shuffling came from behind her and after a minute, Noé felt the sharpness of pain burst from her back as one of them kicked her.

"Damn bitch."

"Lucky you, huh."

"Shut your trap. Take the Fanalis kid. It'll go for a high price."

NO!

But no matter how hard she tried to move, Noé couldn't even move a finger as they took Rhea away. Another kick struck her side and laughter burst from the one she surmised had done it.

"Take the bitch too."

"Are you crazy?"

"She's not ugly. We'll need to keep her drugged but she can fetch us some fine coin if we whore her out. Just be sure to fucking knock her out long enough to get back."

Suddenly, Noé felt a sharpness on her neck that wrenched a hiss out of her. Whatever they'd pierced her with and whatever it was coated with worked faster than she thought any drug could. Before long even Chief's frantic yelling to keep awake fell on deaf ears as the numbing sensation overtook every part of her leaving her mind for last and sending it spiraling into black.

—{ii}—

Muu blinked a few times trying to understand just what her sister had told him.

"They went where?"

"To Delphi," she replied nonchalantly. Behind her the rest of the Fanalis corp welcomed their captain and friends back from their mission that had gone on for longer than they thought it would. Myron twirled her hair around one of her fingers as she thought about it further. "Miss Noé said something about visiting some fields in Delphi and asked if she could take Rhea along."

"And you let her?"

"I didn't see anything wrong with it," Myron replied with a shrug. "They both can take care of themselves, right?"

"No, that's not the point." It was becoming difficult for Muu not to be exasperated with his sister. Then again, he knew that she didn't pay much attention or give much importance to why he left on his missions. "Myron, do you remember why we left in the first place?"

"Yeah, to go beat up some slave traders somewhere. I'm not a dolt, brother."

No, My, but airheaded sometimes, yes. Heaving a long sigh, Muu's mind raced with what to do when Lo'lo came up to Myron after having finished greeting the others.

"Hey, captain, Myron, have you seen Rhea? Can't find her anywhere."

Before Myron could give him the same answer she'd given him, Muu interjected and pulled her back so he could explain.

"She's out with Miss Noé, Lo'lo."

"Out? Where to?"

Muu prepared himself for what would come. "Delphi."

"What?!"

He turned to Myron then. "When did they leave?"

"T-This morning." Myron, though confused still, was also visibly upset as she began to understand that what she let happen had been bad. "Miss Noé said they'd head back by the time the sun began setting."

And it'd been dark out for more than a couple of hours.

They should've been back by now.

Muu caught Lo'lo's movement by the corner of his eye and before he could lunge at Myron, Muu locked his arms back with his to keep him from harming her. It didn't keep him from shouting though.

"How could you let them leave!?"

"She didn't know, Lo'lo! None of them did!"

It was during times like these that Muu regretted most not fully informing all his men about the smaller yet still important missions that he and a few others went out on.

Lucky for him, Lo'lo didn't throw him off of himself like he usually did. Something about his tone thankfully calmed him enough to listen to what he said. And though he was angry too, Muu would not let it surface and show on his face. One of them had to remain calm after all. It was just the worst that he had to be that person by default.

When Lo'lo calmed down enough to fully pay him attention, Muu continued. "You're coming with me. We're going to go look for them and escort them back."

"Escort them?" Finally worry marred Myron's face. "A-Are they in trouble?"

"The slave traders we went after? We caught a handful but didn't get to their hideout before it got dark. We got the information of where they are though and were going to head there in the morning."

"They're in Delphi, you brat." Lo'lo finally broke loose from Muu's hold with a firm shake. Thankfully, he didn't attack Myron in anger. It seemed that her blanched face and horrified expression were enough payback at the moment. Instead he turned to his captain, "Let's head out already."

"Please let me go with you," Myron cried a bit shaken. "Let me help make this right."

Muu thought about it for a bit and decided for what would result in the best outcome in his mind. "Very well. Lo'lo, Myron, you're coming with me. The rest of you stay here and don't wonder outside of Reim. Until we come back and those slave traders along with their headquarters are dealt with, we can't be too cautious. Stay together like you know how to."

Everybody knew what to do. There wasn't much to do here. It was then that the three of them left in the middle of the night due north towards Delphi where he hoped that their tardiness was just that time had escaped them and not because of what they were fearing.

Please be safe.

---

|i.|

There are more.

Noélia overlooked the current situation from her vantage point that, although high enough to work as such, was low enough for the lookouts to ignore. A perfect hiding spot right under their noses. What little joy that brought her however was easily overshadowed by what she saw before her now.

Her village—or at least the village she alone had once thought to be the place where she belonged—stood quietly in its ravine. Night shrouded it well and hid her just as well. And since she didn't use the skies to scout like the other Vastago did, there wasn't a chance that they would see her now. Getting caught though was the least of her worries. Especially now that she saw what had become of her village after years of having left it behind.

Or more like what became of those like her.

Why am I not surprised?

She blamed it on her being too young, too sheltered and too stupid back then not to think there would be more. She'd been too hopeful to think that Theophania—like hell would she ever refer to that woman as her 'mother' ever again—had been the only one to hunt down humans to forcefully mate with them. Noélia honestly didn't see the advantage in doing such a thing. They hated her for what she was. What use would more like her be?

She got her answer and her first glimpse of slavery all in one.

Random thoughts swarmed her mind at the sight of them being led back underground and as far from the rest of the villagers as possible. It'd be easy to set them free. It's not like they couldn't fight. From what she had garnered over the past few weeks, they were much better off than herself. Most of them were intact for the most part. Vastagian blood ran deep. It just so happened she got the short end of that stick. It'd be easy, she repeated to herself. She just needed to convince them of that.

Stealthily as only she knew how, Noélia broke into the deepest parts of the ravine to find those other half breeds. Goodness, they're children. If she had to garner a guess they were no older than she had been during the conclave. They startled awake at her presence, many cowering back into the walls in fear, but she firmly eased their weariness before they could cause a ruckus.

"Shh, shh. It's okay. I'm here to help."

"W-Who're you?" one of the older ones asked.

Noélia smiled warmly and showed them her broken wings, "A friend." Eyes shone as if from recognition and murmurs began to spread throughout the cavern. It's her, she heard them saying, the desecrated vedlys. "What do you mean?" she asked them.

"The vedlys who reigns over us is a usurper," one said. "We Vastago abide by our laws. You won the last conclave. You are our vedlys."

Noélia's gaze fell, emerald eyes averting from their adoring gazes, and took a moment to think. It didn't sit well with her, this sudden reverence they held...but it was certainly something she could use to her advantage.

"Then would you listen to my one request as your vedlys?" None of them hesitated to agree and neither did she with her request. "Fight for your freedom."

And so they did. It truly amazed her how easily internal conflict tore people apart.

Those children fought for what was theirs with all their might. For what was supposed to be theirs since the moment they were born. And Noélia aided them at the vanguard. Though she cared not about a revolution, she truly wanted better for all those who carried their blood. Purebloods and halfbreeds alike. And the only way to do that was to kill this elitist disease at its root.

With ease she had never imagined, Noélia stormed the cathedra high in the tallest spire above the ravine. Her steeled feathers flew with a single sweep of her hand and found the guards at their necks before they could charge at her. It was then that they were left finally alone. Seating prim and proper as could be atop the throne that once belonged to Andromalius was Theone of Raudona.

Feathers readied at hand like daggers and Noélia approached the throne kicking away at the guards that attempted to drag her down despite the sorry state they were in. The crimson feathers shook as her wings dragged along the floor and stood before her aunt.

"I heard the clan was going to waste but that is such an understatement now that I see you sitting there. Truly, this is a disaster waiting to happen with you on the helm, auntie."

Theone didn't grace her taunt with an answer. The rage she clearly saw in her eyes and in that snarl of hers gave Noélia plenty of satisfaction however.

"I should have drowned you when my sister asked me to."

"Since when did you listen to Theophania? Or anybody else for that matter," she asked crudely with a shrug. "Admit it. You saw an opportunity to sit yourself in Andromalius' place and took it. Too bad it led nowhere, huh?"

"I wasted years of my life on you. I raised you, fed you, dressed you and what were my rewards? Disgrace, dishonor, ridicule."

"I didn't ask you to keep me alive," Noélia retorted in a low growl. "You decided that on your own." Her fingers tightened against the steeled feathers between them. "All any of you ever did was make selfish decisions and blame it on me when things didn't go your way. Now you dare do the same to others like me. No, I'm putting an end to this madness. And it ends tonight."

Theone cackled then, her hatred changing her expression to pure satisfaction. "You think those puny feathers of yours will do anything against me?"

"I killed Theophania with these 'puny' feathers. I'm sure they will suffice to end you as well, Theone."

A snarl took away her cocky smirk as she rose from her throne. The commotion outside in the ravine grew in volume but Noélia heard nothing outside her own beating heart and the steady breathing that came in and out of her lungs. It was as Theone took the few steps down her grand throne with her wings brandished behind her just as majestic as Noélia remembered them that one thing stuck out to her as different compared to when she was younger.

"You will fail, Noélia. There is no use in trying to defeat me."

"Oh, auntie, you taught me better than that. So rest assured. I won't try."

There was no fear. No dread. Only determination. And a tinge of rage.

"I'll succeed."

---

|ii.|

Emerald eyes shot open and instantly, Noé gasped greedily for air as her lungs begged her for it. Darkness shrouded her vision as it adjusted to it and to the very faint light that emanated from the corner of her eyes. Before long it told her exactly where she was. A cave. The smell of dirt and humidity and the feel of the rough ground beneath her digging into her bare back told her as much.

Wait, bare?

She shifted slightly trying to get a better grasp at what she felt and indeed, bare was the right word to describe it. Bastards took the tunic off her back leaving her back exposed along with her wing. The slight ache she felt at points told her that they hadn't let their curiosity go unheeded either. Fucking bastards. But that was the least of her problems. Wherever these assholes brought her, she could smell the scent of Rhea lingering about. They'd taken them to this place together. By how faint a scent she caught though, they hadn't been in the same cell for long.

Chief, did you see where they went off with Rhea?

Silence...and cold.

Noé's first instinct was to reach for her bosom but dread washed over her when she realized her hands bound by iron cuffs behind her back. Choosing to glance down as best she could though proved her fears right. They took her Metal Vessel too. Rage instantly boiled through her veins at the realization but just as quickly as it came, she pushed it deep, deep down to the back of her mind. Right now...was not the time to go on a rampage. No matter how much she wanted to. Right now only two things mattered: Rhea and her Metal Vessel.

In no particular fucking order.

Taking that to heart, she assessed her current situation with as cool and leveled head as she could muster.

This cell was merely a makeshift one; a natural cave they dug some poles and a door into. As for the cuffs around her wrists, they were mere iron. Both easy to get out of. Jumping over her cuffs to get her hands in front of her, she flashed out of the cell in an instant. Luckily no one was guarding her at the moment. Even better, the footsteps that she heard now were coming her way. Perfect. Picking up a rock, she tossed it at the poles and sent a noise echoing through the cave. Instantly those calm footsteps hurried down the one hallway and Noé prepared herself by standing to one side of the entrance, counting down in her head with glee.

Three...two...one~

The moment she saw the guard, she swung the heavy handcuffs at their head knocking them clean out. The guard fell with a heavy thud against the ground and Noé quickly went about searching for the keys to her cuffs.

Ridding herself of her restraints, she rubbed at her wrists before lifting her nose to sniff at the air. Rhea's scent was faint still but it at least led somewhere. And wherever it led, Noé followed. She snuck through the dark corridors careful of any light source she found in case there were any more guards. With no way to know whether it was light or night out, she had to thread carefully and avoid being seen before she reached Rhea and Chief.

The scent grew stronger and stronger the more she followed after it and before long it led her to another cell, this one in a chamber dug underground within the maze of caves. No guards were posted here. Odd but not unexpected if they were mere slave traders. They kept merchandise safe but only up to the point where they could secure their own safety along with it. Guarding a Fanalis, even a cub, was a job hazard that she was sure nobody wanted. It certainly explained why they kept her in the more unorthodox cell. Nearing the iron grate that led down into the dark, emerald eyes peered down trying to find the little Fanalis in the darkness. But she couldn't. Not even with her somewhat good night vision, she could find no trace of her there. Noé knew for a fact that she was there though. Her scent emanated from down there and that sound...it wasn't hard to distinguish the growling of a scared animal.

"Rhea?"

It all happened too fast for her to do anything about it. The iron grate flew from its hingings hitting the side of her head hard enough to send her back stumbling. Her vision blurry and her balance undone by the hit, she tried focusing on the figure that jumped out of the opening. A small red blur. That's all she could make out. But the scent was unmistakable.

Why are you fighting me?

The growling continued along with scratching and the grating of the granite below her feet against her sandals. It took a moment but as her vision cleared, Noé finally managed to make out a little of what she was hearing. It was indeed Rhea who had burst out of the cell, but she looked manic. Even in the faint light of the torch that lingered in the hallway leading to her cell it was easy to tell that she wasn't alright. The white around her red eyes was vibrant with the same color, her mouth foaming as she snarled and bared her teeth and reeled back with her back curved and ready to pounce.

Oh. That's why. Noé knew the feral state of a Fanalis when she saw it. And although induced by both drugs and fear, this was it. Rhea wasn't in her right mind anymore. And if she moved even a muscle, she'd get pounced on and ripped to shreds if she wasn't careful.

I can't subdue her in close corridors. She'd get pummeled for sure. No, she needed to get out. Her mind screamed at her then, "You can't leave without Chief!" She knew that too. But she couldn't leave Rhea to rampage and possibly hurt herself in the process. No, for as much as her instinct yelled at her to prioritize her djinn, Noé knew what took precedence.

Rhea first.

The sudden rush of footsteps left her with little time to come up with the how. Rhea reeled back and pressed her back against the wall, her head spinning from her to the open corridor where the footsteps kept coming closer and closer. Thinking on her feet, Noé stood and called attention to herself as her body began to shimmer with light.

"Let's play tag, Rhea!"

Noé flashed just in time to crouch on the shoulders of one of the slave traders that rushed in. Hearing the feral growl that erupted from Rhea as she charged, Noé flashed forward and left it to Rhea to strike them down as they came. Good. This could work. Switching between running and flashing to avoid Rhea's lunges, Noé made her way through the maze of caves until she finally found an exit.

Ragged breaths escaped her as she looked skyward and met the shine of the full down coming down on her. It wasn't just the running that had her like that either. Her seal was working overtime in the dark. Every torch they had passed had been snuffed out as Grace of Sunlight used what little firelight it caught to give her what little Light rukh it could from it. Her throat had parched long ago and was now tasting like dried blood from all her constant flashing. Sadly, the little reprieve the moonlight gave her didn't last much as she was forced by Rhea to flash yet again from another charge.

Damn it! What the hell did that drug have in it!?

"Y-You're the—"

Another's voice caught her attention then. Mostly because Noé recognized it as the voice of the man that she'd knocked upside the head in the woods and who had kicked her on the side in return. If that wasn't enough to have him on her bad side, the fact that he had her silver arrowhead around his dirty neck made it a certainty. The growling behind her that warned of another charge gave her an idea that brought a feral smirk to her lips. Screeching to a stop before him, the man brandished a sword with a tremulous hand and stood in place. That fact alone made her smirk wider.

"Hey buddy, hope this teaches you not to mess with red lions."

The sheer look of confusion that took over him was so satisfying that she almost didn't flash out of the way. Almost. Using what little magoi she still had, she flashed straight up and gave Rhea a clear target to go for. The man yelled out when the little Fanalis tackled him down and threw him aside against one of the walls, effectively knocking him out and breaking more than a few bones in the process. How sad that that didn't kill him.

"Great job, Rhea. Now, let's get you to calm—whoa!"

No longer able to flash, Noé backed off when Rhea reached out to claw out at her. She didn't stop there either. Tired as she was, all Noé could muster were dodges to keep herself safe from Rhea's relentless attacks.

"Rhea, wait—stop!" Noé jumped out of the way, her words unable to reach the little cub who struck the ground with enough force to leave a crater in her wake.

Completely out of breath, Noé weighed her limited options. Getting Chief back was her first thought but even if she got her back, she wouldn't be able to do much with her. Noé barely had enough magoi to move around, much less equip her bow or djinn equip. And it wasn't like Rhea was allowing her the room to even breathe. The immediate option after that was to fight Rhea, but she knew better than to try that. Not only was she worse for wear herself and Rhea a rampaging red lion, there was no way in hell that she would raise a finger against the cub.

But if she couldn't fight...what else was there?

Rhea's growling once again took her attention away from her own thoughts. Emerald eyes lifted to look at her state. The way she backed off yet remained poised to strike if Noé lifted a finger, the way her eyes didn't stray from her yet shook all the same—she didn't want to fight. The child was scared.

And a scared child shouldn't be beaten.

"No," she whispered to herself knowing this was the only route she was comfortable taking. "They shouldn't."

Bracing herself for what she was about to do, Noé did her best to move slowly, but even gentle movements like those seemed to rub Rhea the wrong way. The cub charged without warning but instead of dodging like she had Noé stood her ground as best she could. In her weakened state however it wasn't much. Rhea lunged straight at Noé, taking her across the open space until both stopped by striking the far wall. Noé sucked a sharp breath at the pain that wracked her on impact but ignored it and instead, the moment they stopped, wrapped her arms around Rhea as strongly as she could. Reacting, Rhea jerked and rustled to be released but nothing she did made her let go. Not even when she began clawing at her back and ripping into her wing.

Noé's wailing was hushed with her biting her lip but the pain coming from her wing made it harder and harder to quiet the voice that rang so malicious in her head.

"Kill her. Kill her! KILL HER!"

"I won't!" Her voice rang above Rhea's growling as she continued to rip into her back and wing. "I-I won't hurt you! Rhea, please listen to me. Listen to my voice."

The little Fanalis must have heard her—or the part of her that still could anyway—because she stopped attacking and instead embraced her. Doing so with as much force as she was exerting though meant her claws dug deeply into Noé's shoulder blades and dangerously close to her where her wing attached to her back. Though the voice in her head screamed at her to end the life of the beast that hurt her, Noé fought against the urge and instead held steadfast to Rhea to anchor herself.

"I-It's me, darling. It's big sister Noé."

"O-O-Onee…san"

"...that's it…" Carefully stroking her to comfort her, Noé tried to block away the relentless pain that surged through her in waves. "You're alright now."

"M-Men...bad…take me...away…"

Noé shook her head, tears now springing from her eyes freely. If from empathy for Rhea's deep-seated fear or from her own pain, she didn't really know.

"They're—they're all gone, Rhea. A-All the bad men—they're gone. No one's taking you anywhere. N-Not while I'm here."

"...home…" Noé couldn't believe what she heard. Beyond the growling that had yet to stop, she heard her sobbing. Her hands shook as her small claws held tighter onto Noé Hurting her more, but holding on so desperately that Noé didn't mind anymore. "Rhea...wants to go home."

"I know, Rhea," Noé said. "And I promise you, we'll be home before you know it. You...trust me, don't you?" Finally the growling seemed to come to an end despite the sobbing continuing as Rhea nodded, her hold tightening even more before weakening ever the slightest. "Then trust me...we'll be home soon. Soon…I promise." Soothing her more to ease her grasp, Noé continued to whisper sweet nothings to her to assure her that they would return home. Between those, Noé felt herself faint but fought fiercely against losing consciousness.

If she lost herself now, Rhea would be all alone. She couldn't have that. But she couldn't ignore her pain any longer either. She wanted to cry from it. Her wing though still attached was torn apart. Her back stung from the open wounds that kept bleeding is the hotness running down it was anything to go by. And her throat tasted disgustingly of iron.

It was then, just as her vision blurred from the tears that pooled in them, that she saw them. Blurs of red. At first, she feared they were more slave traders but it was a senseless dread that was quickly shot down when she noticed something. It was faint to her now, mostly because all she could smell was the poignant stench of blood, but it was there. She never thought that this particular smell that barely reached her nostrils would have her breathing a sigh of relief and letting her tears fall down her cheeks.

Hard spices...and fresh earth.

Noé could've sworn she heard Chief's voice reassuring her then with the gentlest of tones.

It's alright now. You can rest.

Knowing she could fully trust it even when she knew it wasn't her, Noé let her gaze fall.

—{ii}—

It was a strange sight for Muu—the strong woman he came to know over the last few months now bloodied and unconscious while holding onto one of his fellow Fanalis. Both laid unconscious against the wall. Slowly, he reached up to check their heartbeats with a couple of his calloused fingers against their throats and breathed a sigh of relief at feeling them beating strongly though low on them both.

Thank goodness.

Muu carefully reached to take a hold of Rhea but stopped short when Noé's hold refused to give. Even when unconscious, it held strong and wouldn't part with the young girl. His calloused hand came up to cradle her cheek and lifted her head at the quiet mumbling he began to hear. Emeralds eyes, though hooded, blinked very slowly as they tried to focus him.

"It's okay," he whispered. Gently as he could, he brushed away the strands of auburn hair that covered her ear and leaned in closer for her to hear. "It's me, Miss Noé. It's...the Fanalis cub."

"...Muu…?"

The fact that it was now of all times that she decided to use his name surprised him enough to let out a small chuckle, his hold on her cheek tightening a little at hearing her at least somewhat conscious. "Yes, exactly. It's Muu."

"...R-Rhea…"

He nodded, brushing his thumb against her cheek tenderly. "She's alright. She's fainted is all. But we can't bring you both in together like this. Lo'lo and Myron? They're here with me too." Muu waited for her as she registered their names, her voice weakly repeating theirs after him. "We're here to take you both back home. But to do that, you've gotta let us carry you separately. You've got to let go of Rhea."

"...let go…?"

"Yes, Miss Noé. It's safe. You're safe. You can let go of her now."

Muu watched as those words sunk into her muddied mind and worked their way to her arms and released the girl. As gently as he could, he pried Rhea's hands from her back, his hands damp and warm from the blood running down it, and quickly called Lo'lo to take his sister.

"Is she harmed?" Myron asked, coming closer to Lo'lo as he adjusted his unconscious sister in his arms.

"No, just out." Once he reassured himself of Rhea's safety, Lo'lo turned to Muu. "What about her?"

Muu's lips pursed into a tight line as he went about inspecting that himself. A few bruises here and there, lips chapped and bleeding but what stuck out most to him were the wounds on her back that he'd just touched. They were fresh. Not only that, it was easy to decipher by the way they'd found Noé and Rhea that the latter had been the cause. It wasn't only her back either. Deep cuts bled from her arms, back and from that...

A wing.

It'd been hard to distinguish when he first saw it. But now, up close, there was no mistaking what he saw with his own eyes. He'd heard of other people and how different they all were from one another. This however...this was completely different. No person he knew or heard of had wings. At least that's what it looked like to him. Like a wing with no way to hold itself up. It laid limp on the ground, matted against her back. Knowing that what he had to do, he went about checking her wounds to see what they'd have to deal with first.

"Myron, help me, please."

With Myron's help, he managed to staunch the bleeding from her back. This'll only do so much though. Muu knew they had to get back to Reim and get her treated properly. Not caring about the mess, he and Myron hoisted her on his back. Her arms fell limply over his shoulders as did her legs under his arms as her whole dead weight fell onto him. This wasn't anything he couldn't deal with, but it was strange to sense that added weight behind him, pulling her down and away from him.

Turning to his sister, he gestured to the limp wing. "Myron, I need you to wrap Miss Noé's...her wing over my arm."

Myron did as he asked, her eyes never straying from the appendage as she placed it over his arm where he could better grasp it and manage with it. Her eyes strayed then from it to her and then to her brother.

"This—something like that isn't normal...is it."

"I don't know, Myron, but that hardly matters."

Turning away like a chastised child, Myron nodded and took to Lo'lo's side as the three began to leave the slave trader's hideout. Just as they were leaving though, Muu stopped dead in his tracks spooked by Noé's hand grasping at his breastplate. Ragged and hot breath hit against his cheek all the while Noé mumbled something under her breath over and over again.

"Miss Noé, I can't understand—"

"Chief...Andro...malius…"

Andromalius? Now that he recalled it, he hadn't spotted her Metal Vessel around her neck either. A sudden warmth at his hip called to his attention Barbatos' eight-pointed star as it shone dimly.

"She's near," Barbatos told him. "The recorder's djinn is nearby."

Muu wasted no time searching until he found the small pendant around one of the unconscious slave trader's neck. Eyeing Myron one more time was enough for her to realize what he wanted. Myron trotted over to the man and deftly took the silver arrowhead pendant away before coming back and holding it tautly by its leather strap. She looked at it for a moment with a taut line on her lips before reaching up and hanging it over Noé's head the best she could. The silver arrowhead fell gently against her and clinked against his armor. All at once the eight-pointed star on it brightened as a veil of transparent gold burst from it. The light it emanated surprised them all but Muu held his ground as the veil flew over them only to rest like a warm blanket over Noé's entire body. Muu caught the faint groaning that came from her which quieted quickly enough when the warmth of the veil touched her cool skin.

In his head, Muu heard Barbatos chuckle and swore he could hear his smile. "Andromalius thanks you, boy, for returning her to where she belongs. And…she pleads that you make haste to the magi."

To Lady Scheherazade? Why?

"Andromalius says that the little recorder—that Noé wouldn't want anybody else but her to see her in such a state."

But Miss Noé...despises Lady Scheherazade. Why would it be her that she allows to treat her?

"That, I do not know. But Andromalius urges you to please see to it that she gets to her."

Not wanting to delay the care she obviously needed, Muu carefully adjusted Noé against his back before turning to Lo'lo and Myron.

"Let's get them home."

—{ii}—

"You were right to bring her to me."

Muu did all he could to help Scheherazade heal Noé once they returned to Remano. They arrived in the hours of the early morning and though he didn't know how, the magi had been awaiting their arrival for much longer than she let on. When asked how she had known, Scheherazade simply replied with, "The rukh became restless at your approach. They are terribly distraught at Noé's current state."

Said women laid faced down on the bed in the room his family had provided her with. The wounds on her back and shoulder blades had been cleaned and properly bandaged, but what concerned Muu most of all were the ones on her wing that they couldn't bandage at all. Scheherazade tended to those with magic, healing them as best she could but saying that there was only so much she could do. She would have to heal the rest on her own.

"With time and proper care, she shouldn't suffer any permanent damage."

"That's a relief." Muu tried fighting it. He truly did. But having it there before him now that all the danger had passed only brought more questions to mind. Questions that he knew Scheherazade had the answers to. "I know it's not my place to ask but…"

The magi turned to him, eyes opening to showcase that soft baby blue color. "I can presume what your inquiry is about."

"I—" Muu looked away, ashamed at having asked such a question without thinking properly. "I apologize, I shouldn't have been so inconsiderate to ask such a thing of you. I should know better than to think you would divulge such information to me."

Scheherazade tilted her head pensively before shaking it.

"There is nothing to forgive, Muu. You did nothing wrong by asking." Coming closer to her, the magi placed a gentle hand atop the wing and combed her fingers soothingly through the downy feathers. Muu noted how the soft groaning that hadn't ceased since the treatment of her wounds started now suddenly eased off as even breathing took its place. "And you are not wrong to think it strange. When I first saw it, I couldn't believe my eyes either. But there was no denying what stood right before me: a human being with a wing attached to their back."

Muu raised his crimson gaze then.

"I wasn't wrong then. It is a wing."

Scheherazade nodded as she continued to soothingly comb through it. "We knew of its existence but Noé never spoke of it. Not to me or to Pernadius. Though it wasn't for a lack of asking from our part. She wasn't keen on answering though and after some time, we reconciled with the fact that she would never be comfortable enough to allow us answers."

"Is she the only one?" When Scheherazade didn't understand his question, he chose to word it another way. "What I mean is, have you ever seen anybody like her before?"

"That I have not." Taking her hand away, Scheherazade let Noé sleep peacefully after having eased the pain with her magic as she soothed her. "She does remind me of the Fanalis in many ways though. Especially to the ones that you described to me when you returned from the otherside of the Great Rift."

Those beasts.

Us.

Muu couldn't help his mind from thinking in such a way. To him, after having seen what he had, it was the only way he could think of himself now. A beast that would never fit in with humanity.

"But...she's human, Lady Scheherazade. Miss Noé is nothing like us."

"Any lie can be believed when said enough times." Scheherazade shook her head then as a glum expression overtook her. "Yet believing it true does not make it any less of a falsehood, Muu. Noé is as far a cry to a human being as I am."

This time it was Muu's turn to shake his head, brow knitted down into a frown. "...I can't believe that, Lady Scheherazade."

"You can't?" Soft blonde hair bobbed somewhat as she tilted her head in confusion. "I find it hard to believe, even after seeing her as she is, that you can find it in yourself to adhere to such words."

"It's because of what I've seen that I can."

Though his words only seemed to confuse her further, there was simply no other way for him to explain his thought process. Yes, Muu could see what lay before him. Such a strange being indeed. But that wasn't what stuck out to him when he thought of Noé. What did was the woman that he had interacted with for these past few months. The woman he knew—the one that laughed, joked, argued and cried—that was the person he saw.

That was the person he knew as Noé. That she bore a wing upon her back changed none of that.

"If you can see her in such light despite what she is, why do you refuse to see yourself the same way, boy?"

Barbatos' words stung but he decided to ignore them and instead focus on Scheherazade's question.

"You have known her far longer than I have, Lady Scheherazade. Being that the case, the only way that I can describe it is, knowing what you know now, would you say that a wing on her back describes her better than the way she talks, how she acts, or the way she carries on about her life does?"

Soft blue eyes lowered for a moment before rising and turning to give the unconscious Noé a sidelong glance. Before long though, she patted her head gently and motioned out of the room before leading the way out. Muu held the door for her and held it just partly open as Scheherazade turned to him.

"She will recover with rest and time. For now, we must wait till she rouses to see what she will require of us next. I'll have Seraphina in charge of her care."

"I'll personally see to her care as well, my lady."

She nodded one final time before turning to leave. Just as he was about to close the door though, Scheherazade's quiet voice rose above the silence of the early morning. "Never be afraid to speak your mind, Muu. It led you to speak wise words just now. But know that I did not say what I did carelessly. You and I both know two very different versions of the same person. Who she is before you is very much not the person she is before me, and only god knows whether either of those is the true one."

"I choose to believe they both are. And though a little eccentric, I don't believe her to be all bad," Muu said firmly, holding tightly onto the doorknob. "And she's done a great job to prove my faith in her right so far."

"I hope for Reim's sake that your faith isn't misplaced."

With those foreboding words said, Muu watched the magi leave unable to follow as those they sunk in. It was clear that despite being fond of her, Scheherazade would be ever wary of Noé. Frankly, he expected such a thing since she'd known her for far longer than any of them. It wasn't something he blamed her for either. He would admit that even he had his qualms about her after the first impression she gave him. But time changed things. And it certainly changed the way he was starting to see Noé. Today only solidified what he had believed for a while now.

Noé wasn't a bad person. He didn't believe what Scheherazade did. What he did believe was that a good person could turn so horribly jaded under certain circumstances like the ones Noé had experienced. And those were just the ones he knew of.

No, he didn't believe her to be all that bad. At least not anymore.

Gently pulling the door, Muu let it click shut and left Noé to rest, promising under his breath to come back in a few hours.

"Rest well, Noé."

—{ii}—

You were never this fragile.

Rakah stood with his back against the far wall so that he could watch over Seraphina as she went about caring for Noé's wounds. Though he came with the intention to have a little chat with Noé, he saw it best to postpone it now that he saw the state she was in. Bruised and unconscious though she was, he could still see that fighting spirit that kept her so livid and on her toes all the time even as she slept so soundly.

And yet he still thought of her fragility first.

With how his arms were crossed over one another, his nails dug easily into his arm at the faint memory that came at the sight of her so bloodied and bruised. A form too familiar against the destroyed wall of a palace, hair disheveled and eyes narrowed at him but with a taunting smirk on their lips all the same as she held a steeled crimson feather in her trembling hands.

"I'll be damned before letting myself be killed by anybody else's hands but my own."

Rakah winced at the memory of fresh red blood spurting from her throat as she slit it open and the guttural laugh she let out until the light in her eyes vanished completely.

You really aren't her.

"Have you come to ogle or are you truly here for something important?"

Seraphina's soft voice rose over the silence that took hold in the rather empty room. That question was all she dared to ask as she focused more on changing Noé's bandages, dropping the bloodied ones onto a bin next to the bed and caring for the raw wounds that stuck out. Rakah found out the gist of what happened from Seraphina. She hadn't sounded the least bit happy about it either. He thought he heard the most irritation he'd ever heard from the little priestess when she talked about Noé getting so injured to save a little Fanalis.

"Well?"

Man, she sure is bitchy about it too.

"I came to speak with her," he simply said. "Nothing that concerns you."

"I think whatever you must speak about with her surely pertains to me as well."

"Believe me." Rakah closed one hand into a fist and let the marks of his current contract glow underneath his clothes. On Noé's arm, matching marks appeared and stopped Seraphina' s handiwork in its tracks as she stared at it with apathetic eyes. "It doesn't concern you."

"You contracted with her…" Seraphina stopped short as that settled in her mind. Blinking a few times, she reached out and brushed the large black patch of skin on her shoulder with the wet cloth she'd been using to clean her wounds. The blood that smeared onto it somehow made the dark mark react, making it pulse in response before the blood was soaked into it. "But...she's mine. We agreed it would be that way. So why would you do that?"

Rakah's amethyst eyes narrowed at the odd tone of her voice. It almost sounded like a child who'd been completely taken aback by his words, repeating them slowly as if processing them. Something that greatly contrasted with her usual demure demeanor.

"Out of all of them, she's the most difficult to predict," Rakah explained, doing so slowly so as to get her to understand. "We must have contingencies in place in case things go awry."

"I have all the contingencies possible for what I've foreseen and have prepared for them accordingly. You have no reason to meddle."

"I highly doubt that."

"Please retract it," Seraphina said with a small smile. Rakah didn't miss the way the edges of her lips twitched a bit.

"I won't," he replied with a shake of his head. "Believe me, this will be easier if we both keep an eye on her—"

"But she's mine!"

Rakah couldn't help it when his borg reacted to the horde of rats that sprung from the shadows of the room towards him, shaking the small place to its core. But as fast as they came, they returned to their shadowy dens to leave Seraphina alone in her disheveled state. Her breath was shallow as she took a moment to compose herself, straightening up as she stood and averted her gaze from Rakah's.

"She's mine, Mister Rakah," she repeated. This time she sounded more poised, though now he saw that for what it truly was. Nothing but an act. "Master promised I would have her. And I want her, Mister Rakah. Untainted by your hand. So please...rescind the contract." Her seafoam eyes were calm even as she raised her hand to let the dark matter that her rodents were made of climb onto her arm to form a sharp blade alongside the back of it. "Or I will find myself undoing it for you."

It was impossible not to feel his hair stand on end at the veiled threat. Not letting her intimidate him but not undoing his borg either, Rakah stood his ground and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Even if I could, I wouldn't, you maniacal brat."

"Even if you could?" That seemed to calm her, the dark blade disappearing and slithering down her body to return to being those rodents. "What do you mean?"

"Her terms." He gestured with his chin at Noé who not once had stirred during the whole exchange. "She agreed to my contract in exchange for having the power to cancel it whenever she wanted. So you see, even if I wanted to, those powers aren't on me anymore where she's concerned."

Seraphina finally stood down, deciding to stare back at Noé's unconscious form for a bit longer before saying, "I see." She sat back down and went about nursing her again while ignoring him altogether again. "I must make her see reason then."

"You do that." His condescending tone seemed to be lost to her as she went about her business.

Just as he was about to leave though, he heard Noé stir in her sleep. With her threatening to wake, Rakah used both Blooming Waves and Peaceful Darkness to hide his presence completely as she regained consciousness. It was amazing to watch Seraphina change completely from the emotionless doll to the bright woman the moment Noé saw her.

"S-Sera…"

"Please, you mustn't push yourself." Seraphina helped her up as Noé groggily sat up in her bed. "Your injuries are still quite tender."

"Injuries..." All at once, recognition dawned in her emerald eyes. Almost instantly, she brought the bedsheet closest to her and wrapped herself with it in an attempt to hide what was so painfully obvious to those in the room. But doing something like that so quickly seemed to have hurt her more than helped as she winced and bent forward from the pain.

Seraphina jumped up at the first sign of it quickly brought her wand closer to help dull the pain with magic. Rakah wasn't shocked at how Noé responded, smacking the wand away and scaring Seraphina in the process.

"Get away from me…"

To her credit, the crazy priestess didn't move an inch and instead walked over and picked her wand from where it'd fallen. Holding it in her grasp, she looked it over before walking back to Noé's bedside and taking the seat she'd been on for the past hour.

"Your injuries need to be treated."

"They'll heal on their own." Rakah could hear the low growl coming from Noé's throat even from where he stood.

"They will but they'll take months to do so without help, Miss Noé." Seraphina's calm logic seemed to calm the Vastago's rigid stance, her shoulders lowering a bit at the priestess's words. "If what you worry about is your wing, there isn't a reason for it. Lady Scheherazade warned me before leaving you in my care about it. Though I must say, there was hardly a need for her to sound so serious about it."

"You're not...put off by it?"

Amethyst eyes narrowed at the quiet response. Rakah didn't know if what Seraphina said was true, but the way that she phrased it seemed to strike a chord with Noé. Or soften it, he supposed.

"Hardly," Seraphina commented with a smile. "After being friends with Muu and knowing of the other Fanalis, people with extraordinary circumstances aren't much of a surprise anymore. Though I won't deny that it was quite a sight when I first laid eyes on it."

Noé kept quiet for a moment before saying, "Grotesque, ain't it?"

"On the contrary, it's very gorgeous, if I may say so." Rakah noted how Noé's emerald eyes lit up a bit at hearing those words. God, she's good. "It does seem broken though which worries me quite a bit. Was this something caused by the Fanalis, Rhea?"

"No." Noé was quick to defend said person. And it didn't fly past Rakah the way Seraphina's back tensed quite visibly from where he stood. "This...was like that. It's always been broken."

"Oh." A very cumbersome silence surged through the room and Rakah couldn't help but relish in it as Seraphina struggled to find the words to say.

Before she could find any, Noé carefully stood from her bed, wincing from the pain her wounds still seemed to cause her. Without much preamble, she asked Seraphina if there was anybody in the household, more specifically the bathhouse.

"N-No, Lady Scheherazade made sure this part of the mansion would be cleared for the day to give you some privacy."

"At least she got something right." With that mumbled from under her breath, she dragged off one of the bedsheets and draped it over her back to hide the wing that dragged behind her. "I'll have a bath then, if you don't mind. I want to get this smell off of me."

"Of course, b-but do be careful with your wounds please."

Noé didn't respond and instead rolled her shoulders a bit as if to verify that. Once done with that, she made her way to the door but stopped short when she reached for the doorknob. Rakah held his breath as, out of nowhere, Noé turned his way while lifting her nose and flaring her nostrils. Amethyst eyes widening at the thought of what she was doing. He remained deadly still and waited until Noé glanced over her shoulder at Seraphina.

"Did you come from the ocean?"

Seafoam green eyes blinked and smiled coyly back at her. "The ocean?"

"It smells...like salt water in here."

Shit. She hadn't. But Rakah had after just coming back from the shores of Kou. Not good.

"Oh, that!" Seraphina let out a dainty chuckle that had he not known better would've sounded as natural as could be. "You must be smelling the new perfume my father gave me. He often gets presents from would-be customers and he gifted it to me the other day. Says it came from the coasts of Sindria."

"Mm." Noé didn't seem the least bit convinced but when a sudden pain made her reach up to grab at her head, she shook it slightly before grabbing hold of the doorknob. "I'm gonna go take that bath."

"I'll bring you a change of clothes."

"Bring a large tunic too...please." With that she exited the room, closing the door behind her rather forcefully.

Both him and Seraphina held their breaths for another minute before either of them let out sighs of relief. Undoing the magic hiding him, Rakah clicked his tongue and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"That was too close for comfort."

"What a sharp nose she has," Seraphina commented.

"Too sharp." Rakah then turned to the little priestess who regained the rather apathetic expression she often wore around him. "Relax about this whole thing, Seraphina. You're going to get what you want and so am I."

"I am aware of that, thank you very much." She smoothed her dress as she stood up and headed for the door. "Now if you excuse me, I have to tend to my patient."

Rakah let her leave peacefully with that and stayed behind, leaning against the wall to think about the pieces he had in place at the moment.

Speirr would cave soon, there was no denying that. And she was closer now than in any other iteration to finally summoning Silver Echoes. There was no time to dawdle here or with the midget magician for the time being. Now that things were being too tightly woven, he would have to act only where he was needed...which meant leaving the other proxies to deal with Noé and the other seal bearer he knew of.

What a gamble.

"Please...I want to understand, Rakah ojii-san. What do you gain by doing all this?"

"Peace of mind, brat. Peace of mind that what I did—that all those lives I took—wasn't in vain."

—{ii}—

Noé took careful steps onto the Fanalis training fields and stood back to watch them from afar. She held the dark crimson shawl that Seraphina had brought her against her back and held the ends close around her arms, her wing hidden under one of them as she carried it around in her arm for comfort. The bath had done her some good. She couldn't smell the disgusting scent of blood or alcohol anymore. And, although begrudgingly, she allowed Serpahina to do some healing on her back but decidedly bullied her into leaving her wing alone.

"All they are doing is trying to help, Noé. You have to understand that."

"I do," she whispered under her breath, leaning against the pillar under the small parlor that separated the outside hallway from the training fields themselves. "But what I don't get is why they're helping me after seeing...this." Her hold tightened on her wing and she winced at the pain that came from doing that.

"They don't mind it."

"They should." Just like everybody else has.

It'd be easier to deal with them that way.

"Miss Noé?"

The sound of her name in such a deep baritone voice yet spoken so quietly immediately put her on edge but almost as quickly, the smell of spices and fresh earth calmed her raging nerves and allowed her to calmly turn to meet Muu's gaze. Her own eyes narrowed at seeing the gentle expression he gave her along with the worried look in his eyes. The cub before her was dressed much differently than usual. He didn't wear any armor. Instead, his wardrobe was more consistent with the fancy tunics and sashes she often saw those from the Reimian parliament wearing.

"You're looking rather dashing," was the only thing she could think of to say to dissuade any awkwardness she brought onto the table. "What gives?"

Sadly, Muu wasn't in the least of moods to follow around with her jokes. "How are you feeling? Have your wounds healed? What about your wing, is it alright now?"

Taken aback by his sudden and direct approach, Noé stood somewhat aghast and blinked a couple of times to process his questions that came at her fast and furious. Underneath her turmoil, she could hear the soft chuckle from Chief.

"Have I ever said how much I like the boy?"

Shut it, Chief.

Noé, trying her best to hide what she really felt, grinned but there was no mistaking the peeved toned as she replied. "You have no idea what tact is, do you, cub?"

Crimson eyes blinked a few times before his cheeks matched a bit of that color. He sputtered trying to think of what to say next, but before he could, Noé couldn't help the bubbling chuckle that escaped her at the sight of him like that. Incredible how easily her annoyance disappeared with just the one silly action.

"Miss—"

"You crack me up sometimes, cub." With that said, she spun on her bare feet—she really didn't want to wear any sandals right now—her loose hair spinning with her as she made her way out into the training grounds and left him behind.

Though she did this to escape his prying questions, she didn't really expect the sudden barrage of looks she got the instant she came into the light. Too quickly for her to escape, the whole of the corps rushed her, calling out their questions of how she was and if she was better. Dazed by their questions, Noé could barely form a coherent thought much less speak. Thankfully, both Lo'lo and Myron stepped up to disperse the crowd that gathered, shouting at them to give her some space.

With enough time to breathe now, Noé thanked them under her breath but now had to answer the questions that Myron bombarded her with.

"Are you okay? Are you feeling better? Have you eaten well? Did the priestess send magicians to heal you properly? If she didn't, I'll pummel her personally."

"Calm down, Myron." Shit. Here she thought she'd left Muu eating her dust back there. It was strange and rather uncomfortable having him behind her now while being in such a weakened state where she wouldn't be able to do much about it.

"Not everyone's out to get you, kid."

Noé wouldn't deem that with an answer. Instead she watched as the Fanalis joked around rowdily for a moment. Quieting them all, Lo'lo's booming voice came over the rest and did the job rather quickly.

"Well, if she's up and walking around, I think she's already feeling much better, ain't she?" Lo'lo commented with a grin.

"Yeah, I'd say so too," Muu added.

Just as she was about to comment on that, a sudden shuffling took her attention. Emerald eyes landed on Lo'lo just long enough before realizing that the noise hadn't come from him. It came from behind him. Traveling downward, she finally met the pair of familiar crimson eyes that popped from behind Lo'lo's leg. Noé was careful not to cause any further damage as she crouched down to meet Rhea's gaze, somehow keeping a straight face even when she felt Muu close behind as if to help her down.

"Hey," she whispered calmly. "How are you feeling?" When Rhea made no effort to move and only hid further behind her brother, it struck a chord in Noé's chest that tightened it greatly. Though she smiled at her, there was no hiding the pain that colored her expression.

She's the only one with the right idea here.

"Noé, don't do this to yourself..."

Before Noé did exactly what they both knew she would do, a warm hand carefully placed itself on the small of her back, giving itself ample space to spread against it and keep her crouched down without nearing her wing. Muu's baritone voice traveled to her easily then even when he whispered his words.

"She's not scared of you, Miss Noé. She's been crying these past few days when she heard you were hurt because of her. She's scared you won't forgive her because of what happened."

All at once her chest filled with unimaginable tenderness at his words and what they meant as she once against locked eyes with the little girl. Choosing to kneel down instead, Noé gave her a gentle smile before reaching out with both her hands to invite her in.

Crimson eyes went wide as tears instantly built up in them at the action. Before anybody could do anything, Rhea rushed into Noé's embrace crying while Noé simply stroked her head to soothe her. The tackle would've been enough to knock her back had Muu not been there, honestly. And despite her low burning anger sizzling a bit when his hands touched her shoulders to keep her steady, Noé ignored it, opting to console the crying girl instead.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm so, s-so sorry!"

"Shh, it's alright, love." Noé held Rhea closer and this time when she hugged her back, Rhea did so with tenderness that contrasted greatly with what her aching back remembered. It was almost like the pain went away with her kind touch. And Noé liked to believe that it did for that brief moment. "You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing whatsoever."

It took a few minutes but once she got Rhea to calm down, she wiped her tears away from her face and smiled at her, asking for a smile instead so that this all could be put behind them. Rhea helped with wiping her face before smiling through reddened cheeks and puffy eyes. Noé couldn't help it when she leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on her forehead before standing up to address the rest of the Fanalis.

"Thank you all for your concern. It's really heartwarming. But you really don't have to. I'll be fine in a few days."

"No point in telling us not to," Lo'lo called out as he placed his huge hand over his sister's head. "Regardless of how dangerous it's been or not, we always worry about our own. Right, everybody?"

Emerald eyes widened at the rambunctious bellow that resulted from their unanimous agreement. Her chest swelled at their response and she averted her gaze to keep them from seeing the rush of color that reached her face. Despite not trusting her voice well, she allowed herself to at least let her gratitude be known.

"Thank you."

Noé left them to return to what they'd been doing as she went ahead to rest, taking a seat on the nearby steps. She watched them from afar then, their rowdiness and rather joyous voices carrying themselves to her and bringing her a strange sense of something that she didn't recall feeling before. All she knew, frankly, was that it made her feel welcomed. And that was certainly a change.

"See?" Chief said with a tone that told Noé the djinn was smiling tenderly. "This world isn't all that bad."

Watching them for another moment brought a smile to Noé and an answer that she didn't think she'd ever be comfortable thinking came out of her.

"Yeah, it's not all that bad."

"Mind if I take a seat?"

Noé didn't bother being surprised anymore when Muu snuck up on her. Damn, her wing being out of commission truly brought some unexpected handicaps to light. Not minding him anymore, she simply scooted over and allowed him a seat beside her. Before he even had settled down, Noé allowed her mind to speak for itself.

"You all are truly crazy for keeping someone like me around even after what you saw."

Muu's crimson gaze fell for a moment before it rose to watch over the rest of the Fanalis along with her.

"There's nothing much out of the ordinary with you and us getting along if you give it some thought. We're red lions, you're a red bird. We're both just beasts that live among the rest of the world. Nothing crazy about being close to one another if that's the case, right?."

That comment itself caught her enough by surprise to laugh out loud. Taken aback, Muu asked just what she found so hilarious to which she said, "You don't have any idea how wrong that mindset is, do you?"

"Can't say I do, though something tells me you're about to tell me."

Chuckling for a bit more, she let herself come up with how to exactly explain what she knew to the cub. While she did this, her emerald eyes focused on the younger Fanalis that played around. Mostly on Rhea as she ushered the others around doing something she couldn't quite make out from where she sat.

How can I put this without outright telling him the truth, Chief?

"By not telling him." Though she sounded sarcastic to her, Noé knew that Chief was anything but. "We're not supposed to talk about this with them, Noé. With anybody, for that matter. You promised that secret would stay between us when I contracted with you."

Relax, I don't plan on spilling those beans. I just want to paint him the picture I've seen for centuries...and understand myself why it isn't holding true now.

When Chief refused to answer her, Noé took a moment to herself to think of the most simplistic way to phrase what she wanted to tell him.

"Do you know what the Fanalis were known as when they resided on the Great Rift?"

The Fanalis cub remained still and quiet for a moment. "Red Lions?"

Close but no.

"They were known as the Crimson Kings of the Earth."

"Kings?"

Noé nodded. Lowering her hands to her sides, she carefully laid her wing so that its cover from the shawl didn't fall off and began to gently brush her fingers against the grass.

"The people I herald from, the Vastago, were known as the Monarchs of the Skies. You wouldn't think so since they both held power over territories that didn't overlap whatsoever but the two were mighty foes back in the day and were at each other's necks at every chance they got."

"That is quite new. I've never heard of the Vastago either. But that they fought doesn't surprise me, frankly. All rulers are the same regardless of where they come from, it seems."

"I agree with you wholeheartedly on that. Our people weren't any different than any others. In fact, they might have been worse." Noé watched as the children laid flowers on the floor while some of the girls and boys picked their favorites from the bunch. "To keep them from being a threat later on, the Vastago would hunt out young Fanalis and hang them from the highest trees to bleed them out. Left them out there to rot as a warning sign for any of the others too."

"What?!"

She shrugged her shoulders at his astonishment having grown desensitized herself to the subject. "Fanalis weren't any better, honestly. They picked out the Vastago toddlers if they dared stray too far from their homes like the helpless chicks they were. I heard they often found them decapitated and flayed." And half eaten. "It was quite the bloody feud between the two peoples back when all of them lived in the Great Rift."

Or as close as you'll know of your actual home, anyway.

"That's a horrid scene you're painting."

"Ain't it?"

When she saw him about to respond or question her further, she laid a quieting hand on his knee. Muu watched closely and lifted his gaze to follow her line of sight as she focused on Rhea as she ran to her along with some other cubs by her side. They stopped short in front of them and Noé waited patiently for them to speak when Muu asked them if they needed anything. Pulling her hands from behind them, Rhea and the others presented Noé with bouquets of wildflowers.

"From all of us, onee-san! As thank you and a get-well-soon gift!"

Noé held the makeshift bouquets in her hands and gently brushed her fingers across the soft petals of the colorful flowers. Leaning closer to it, she took a deep breath to savor their freshness and sweet scent. Finally, she lifted her gaze and smiled kindly at all the children that came.

"Thank you. All of you. They're really quite beautiful."

Rhea gave her a grand smile before turning to the rest of her friends and scurrying away. Noé took another inhale of the flowers to soak in their scent before speaking again.

"It was horrid...from what I'm told. Too terrible to even try to imagine. But, I'm starting to think it can be different. That this place is somewhere where I can peacefully be allowed to be and live. To grow unhindered like wild flowers do."

"You think it's because you're here that you believe that? Because you're here in Reim?"

That sudden question caught her off guard and made her glance back at him. "I've lived the longest here in this country. It's familiar. Doesn't it make sense that that would be the reason why I'm comfortable here?" When Muu began rubbing the back of his neck and pursed his lips pensively, Noé grew peeved at his sudden silence. "Why the hell else would it be?"

"Maybe...it's not so much the place." Noé tilted her head quizzically and had Muu trying his best to explain himself clearer. "Can I tell you what I feel when I'm here with all of you?"

Noé looked at him intently which gave him the reassurance that she'd be listening to his every word without her agreement

"Peace. Love. Belonging. Things I never thought I'd have until I met Lady Scheherazade, the Fanalis, and people like you." Her grip tightened around her bouquet at the mention of herself. Muu then turned that crimson gaze to her. "And those feelings aren't tied to Reim or to the home of my people in the Great Rift." He held her gaze for a moment longer before he turned back to the Fanalis. "It's because of them. Because of the people I know and that I cherish that I feel this way."

You have those.

"But you have those, cub." Noé hadn't wanted to repeat the words of those horrible thoughts but once they crawled into her mind, it was difficult to push them back. Especially now when this started to hit so close to home for her. "I don't. Not anymore anyway."

"I know it may feel that way," he said, "After what happened to your son because of Lady Scheherazade and with how close you were with my ancestor before he died, I'm more than aware how it may feel like you don't anymore. But that's all in the past now, no matter how much it hurts to think of it that way."

"It still leaves me with no one."

Muu chuckled then and her emerald eyes barely caught him when he reached over to brush his calloused fingers over the petals of her flowers. Gently. Tenderly. As they finished running across their petals, his large hand fell upon hers and squeezed them reassuringly. The moment he did that, a single thought ran through Noé as she stared intently at his hand over hers.

How warm.

"That's not true. The Fanalis already see you as part of the family. Seraphina too. She's always saying how she holds you in such high regards and how much she appreciates you. The boy from the alchemy workshop, Maahes too. I've seen how he looks at you. How fondly he speaks of you as well. Even Lady Scheherazade has her moments when she sees you in a better light. They all are starting to see you the way I see you."

"And what way would that be?"

Noé didn't know what in heaven's name made her ask that, but it had. It'd been something deep inside her—if she dared recognize it as anything, it'd surely be whatever was left over of the innocent child she used to be all those centuries ago. That part of her didn't care much about the others. It cared about the person that sat right beside her. The person that, no matter how many times the nasty part of her bared its teeth at him, kept coming back with the intention to see past that beast. Past that jaded person the world made her out to be and to that small child who wanted nothing more than to belong somewhere.

That child that reached out to the bright light that poured from the edges of a door she had purposefully closed and dared not open. She was too afraid to open it. Too afraid to see what laid on the other side. Too afraid that it would disappoint her like it had before.

A girl that waited desperately with bated breath for what he would say.

"Please..." she cried, "I want to be out there too. Even one day...one day would be enough for me. So please...give me a reason."

"A person to be cherished just how she is."

The chains broke that instant without the need of a key, letting the door swing open and the blinding light to pour in unhindered as the child stepped out into its brilliance—

And smacked Muu right in the face with the bouquet of wildflowers.

"NOÉ!"

"M-Miss Noé?!"

Noé's brain worked a mile a second to even muster up any kind of excuse, lame or otherwise, as she held her disheveled bouquet against her chest. Some flowers were broken at their stems while others lost some of their petals but Noé used whatever of it was left to hide her face that felt warm as hell from anybody's view.

What the hell is wrong with me?!

"I should be the one asking the damn question!"

Clearing her throat, she shook her head and tried saying something but could only stammer meaningless gibberish before she decidedly stomped away without another word. Rather confused by her sudden change, Muu couldn't help chase after her, something quite easy to do with a couple of steps that had him caught up to her in no time.

"D-Did I say something wrong?"

"You said something—just—ugh!"

"Are you mad about what I said then?"

"I'm—I'm—"

Noé picked up the pace and left him in the dust for a moment before he caught up again. They continued their chase with him following after her and asking what he'd done wrong up to the exit of the training grounds where Noé, unable to take it anymore, spun on her heels and stopped him in his tracks in the process. With the few steps that she had above him, she could finally look at those crimson eyes straight on and did so despite knowing full well that her cheeks would surely be a dark red to match them.

"You better lay off with your mushy shit, Alexius, because I'm not the soft little chick you think I am! I'm a proud Vastago and I won't let a cub like you lead me around by the nose however you want!"

"So you are mad?"

Honestly, she wanted to say no. But at that point, she wasn't aware what exactly it was she was feeling right that instant anymore with how jumbled she felt inside. So instead she went for the default and what was most likely to get him off her back so that she could— just—think!

"I'm livid, Muu!"

It backfired horribly as an edge of Muu's lips lifted upward and he let whatever thought came to mind bubble to the surface.

"You know, it's kind of adorable that you have to get this mad to call me by my name. Maybe I should get you like this more often."

Noé let out the loudest shriek she could muster before doing the only thing she could think left to try. Flashing right back into her room and falling on top of her bed hard enough to bounce an inch off it, she held tightly onto the pillow and screamed her frustrations into it with all she had. In the back of her mind, she heard Chief erupt with laughter and clearly not at all sympathetic with her current predicament.

"I think I'm starting to see why Barbatos chose him. Even I'm starting to like the guy. And from what I just saw, you are—"

"SHUT UP, ANDROMALIUS!"

---

A/N:

Heehee, it's been quite a long time since my last chapter. Good thing I made this one extra long and fluffy to make up for that :3c This is legit one of the funner chapteres I've written in a while~ Anyway, yay! Welcome back to TM, everybody! I'm really happy to be back especially now that I can say that I have a more concrete outline set out! I hope you all are taking care of yourselves, especially in these times, and I hope that this chapter brings a little bit of entertainment to your guys' day/night :D

Right now I'd like to thank the wonderful people who Favorited and Followed since my last update (still can't believe it was freaking december last year!). So thank you to dreamwalkerlisa, knightwatchers, SociallyAwkwardHumanBeing, americocorona830, SunnyGirl9, xenocanaan, Sall342, SasuSakuLover1619 and Handara.

Also, thank you so much to you reviewers! You all bring smiles to me on bad days and you keep me going writing all these stories with as much enthusiasm as I do!

Aviantei: it's always super amazing to hear what you think of every story, but very much more so in this once since you love it so much! And know that this whole story is for you friend to enjoy as well~ Oof, though we won't do much at first, Noé will certainly have a bunch to do in Magnostadt, you can bet you bottom dollar on that. Yes, Noé is just a sad little chick that needs hugs, but she can also kick ass like she did in this chapter! Her and Andromalius' backstory will surely appear when we get closer to the later arcs, so there's that too :D As for Sera, yee. She like Noé, not in the healthiest of ways though. But rest assured that people like Sera and even Masami in SL will make a return way in the future once all these stories are over and done with. And lastly yessssss, I can't wait to write a certain final battle where Muu and Noé are gonna be damn powerhouses to be reckoned with.

Sorathe knowledgeDevourer23: that scene was *this* close to being cut but i'm glad i placed it in too. Noé is a grumpy turtle more than a bird which makes it hard for her to let people in. and as you saw, once she does that shell breaks really fast and let's out that side of her that we've seen in other shows, the legendary tsundere w)/

Handara: Yours was the review that got me to finish this at 1am and publish it! Hope you enjoy it~

And that is all for tonight, folks! Wish I could stay and have a drink or two but me is tired after a long week of online classes that went like a damn rollercoaster. I truly hope you all are doing well and that I brought a little entertainment into your lives for an hour or two.

As always hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you stay tuned for the next update! :)

Much love and hugs,

- Evie