The light of the morning peeked through the curtains; the bright flash immediately directed to the woman's shut eyelids. The blonde's day was quite routine, as much as she hated to admit it.

It always started with the black void being flooded by a brightness that she couldn't escape, even if she rolled over. She hated that, since the other side of her messy bed held a tall mirror, one that reflected that same daylight back onto her. It seemed like such a dumb idea, but if she had the chance, she probably would have stayed in bed for much longer than needed, so she could thank herself for the foreplanning, at the very least.

A groan escaped her throat, her body sitting itself up as she pushed some of the strands of hair from her face. She felt the aches from the previous day's events, hence why she was still fit in her previous day's attire. She was exhausted after all the training and orders from Alexander, so she didn't even get a chance to change into nightwear after eating her small dinner.

Reluctantly shifting out of bed, her legs moved her up to the window, completely opening the curtains to let in the rest of the light of day. It certainly woke her up, being blinded by the sun so early in the day, but that's how she decided what would make her eyes open more than a crack.

The rest of the morning went as followed, the same way it always did: brush teeth, turn the shower water on and turn the temperature up a bit higher than she was used to, get dressed into whatever the first thing her hands grabbed in the closet was, lament on how long it took to find a hair tie despite them being in the same spot every day, then start on an uneventful breakfast. Her morning routine was simple, but nothing broke up the monotony of the first hour of the day.

She wanted something, anything, to interest her during this time, but all of that was reserved for later in the day. The kitchen's appearance also didn't help, seeing the drab beige slabs up on the walls with the clean countertops. There wasn't even a dish in the sink to clean, so she had nothing to do aside from just eating the same breakfast she's had for the past couple of weeks or so: three slices of toast and a banana.

She could have eaten more, but around noon, she would be famished and choose to intake lunch at an incredible speed, so she wasn't going to offset that cycle. Last time she did, she got a concerned look from Alex, and Lord knows that she didn't like the sound of being reprimanded by a boy that was nearly ten years younger than her.

She finished her breakfast in record time, checking her phone to see if there were any new notifications from those she knew. A majority of the notifications were simply from social media, advising her of events or statuses being posted that she had no interest in. However, when she cleared those out of the way, one message stood out, one that was labeled as "URGENT".

Her curiosity peaked, though the last time she had a message that was labeled like this was just a message that a package she ordered was on the last date for pickup. She decided to check it, since the worst that could happen was that she spent an extra couple of seconds reading a notification that she didn't need to. A couple of seconds of her life was nothing concerning.

When she opened the notification, she saw that the contact was Alex, which was something that she didn't expect. If he had something to tell her, he would have told her when she caught up with him earlier in the day, so if he had to reach out to her for this, it had to have been important. Going over the message, her eyes widened, all before rushing to get her shoes on.

She didn't even bother tossing her plate into the sink or getting a drink to wash down the slices of bread she ate, she didn't care at that point. After slipping her feet into her shoes and grabbing her keys at breakneck speeds, she slammed the front door to her house closed, making her way to Alex with a grin on her face.

The trip to meet her colleagues wasn't long from her place, only taking about seven minutes in terms of walking distance. However, with the blonde's speedwalking, it was cut down drastically, excitement in her step at the revelation she received. When she broke from the main sidewalk, her feet diverted her through a construction lot, one sealed off by yellow tape that held a bunch of steel bars and tools.

She would cut through this spot often, so much so that despite civilians not being allowed on the property, she made friends with the construction crew that worked there. She found it to be a saving grace, since they always allowed her to walk through despite the dangers and risks that it posed. Otherwise, she'd be nearly doubling her time in getting to where she needs to be. She could use that, but it was such an unnecessary use that she might as well as have just made the detour.

Ducking under a couple of bars, she finally got to an alley, one that was split into two corridors. The left corridor led to the main road, leading to a quaint little cafe with a couple of cozy shops beside it. She didn't dare go down that way, it felt too "pure" for her to walk down. Her smile dropped a little just by thinking about it, but the other corridor was where she wanted to go.

It was closed off by a gate, but that wasn't anything she couldn't leap over, even if it was double her height. She took a running start from the aisle, jumping over to the left wall, then to the right in quick succession. With each jump, she got higher up, eventually scaling the wall after two more jumps before grabbing the fence to leap over it.

She landed on her feet perfectly, not even needing to perform a roll to land safely. Her destination was just a bit further ahead, so even if she did manage to hurt herself, it wouldn't have been that far of a trip to get patched up (assuming she wouldn't just power through it). Her body took her only a few more steps, leading to an abandoned compound at the end of the right corridor.

The stone walls displayed their fair share of wear-and-tear, but the entrance itself was a different story. The hole that held the door was completely open, seeing as how there was nothing to stop anyone from getting inside to graffiti the walls with whatever insignia or signature they wanted.

The woman had been here countless times, so she knew which symbols were placed where and what each picture represented, since she had ample time to examine each of them. She didn't have to go through the hassle of meeting them through this way, but it was better than wasting a teleport gem like the rest of them.

She got inside, her path leading her to the stairway that gave her two options. One was to go up, but that was where the mischievous kids went to do... whatever they wanted to do. She had some ideas, but never got confirmation aside from just drinking when she caught a bunch of kids taking sips of alcohol when she was leaving from an exhausting day. She also wanted to sit down with them, just to bum a drink so she didn't have to waste any money for more before she got home.

However, she realized that if she did, they might show up more often, and in turn, they would ask more questions about why she was there so frequently. On top of that, she knew that she wasn't one to hold her liquor well, so displaying that side of her to anyone outside of the comfort of her own home was out of the question. Simply put, scaring them off was the safer tactic, so that's what she did, causing them to never show up again. Her destination wasn't upstairs though.

Instead, she took the steps to lead to the basement, a dark, nasty room that no one wanted to go down. At least, that's what she made them think.

When she went down the steps, she weaved through the spider webs and moss on the walls, things she purposefully left there to deter anyone who wanted to investigate. She made sure the stairway looked as awful as possible to detract from the near-spotless basement below.

The basement was dark, no light shining in from even the stairway that led to it. To be fair, if there was any light leaking down from the three flights of stairs she came from, it'd be a miracle. To compensate for the lack of light, she created an alchemic circle on her fingertip, the area of the room now being just barely visible due to her only creating a small light source. It was no larger than the size of her palm, but it was enough when she memorized the spot she needed to go to.

She made her way to a corner, one that seemed inconspicuous at first, but she knew exactly what to do. She pressed the alchemic circle to the corner, the silver energy now spilling into a pattern onto the walls. Once it did, the walls began to split apart at the intersection, revealing an interior elevator that was lit up by a bright white light. The lightbulb seemed brand new, judging from the sight of it. Thank God she told Alex to replace it, she was tired of riding down to his office in complete darkness.

She stepped in, not needing to press any buttons due to the elevator only having two stops: the basement and the "below", as she called it. The walls closed in on her, hiding the elevator as it began its immediate descent. The first time she went down the elevator, it was a complete shock to her, descending at a tremendous speed. However, after years, she had gotten used to it, not needing to hold onto any railing or bracing for any sort of impact. If anything, nowadays, she thought it was too slow.

She finally reached the desired floor, dashing out as soon as the elevator doors gave her enough space to squeeze through. She was still brimming with excitement; nothing could take this mood away from her. Her journey caused her to pass several rooms, but she knew each of them like they were the back of her hand. Relic analysis, training room, resource storage, overnight quarters, as well as everything else under the sun. However, one room within this labyrinth was always different than the rest, Alex made sure of it.

No matter how much the inside of their HQ was renovated with new lights and technology, the door to his room would always be embroidered with a gold plate, one that always put his name on high importance. It was quite pretentious, since he always went out of his way to do this, even if he moved to a different room, but what could she do about it?

She took the opportunity to slam the door open, despite everyone in the headquarters knowing that the door was automatic, including her. As for why, she just felt like it, not caring about any sort of damage that she may have caused. In front of her stood a trio of girls, a group she knew all too well. As much as she would have liked to call them friends or even acquaintances, she and the three were always at each other's necks. Thankfully, her mind was currently linear, only wanting explanation on the message she got.

"H-Hey! You know that door's automati-"

The middle girl, a girl with red hair that was a bit shorter than the blonde, didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before being pushed out of the way. Sure, it was rude, but nothing compared to what they did to each other in the past. If anything, this portion would have been labeled as nothing more than "playful banter".

The blonde's attention was completely on the final person in the room, a boy who was seated behind a wooden desk. While the rest of his office was a bit repetitive with the various awards and trophies he displayed, the only thing that made him look humble was the simple wooden desk that he held onto, pristine as when he first got it. He could have gotten a new one years ago, but he opted against doing so, though he would never disclose the reason why, not like it was hurting anyone.

The woman slammed her hand onto the table, her eyes narrowing at the boy, who only wore a smirk on his face as his hands were held in front of his face.

"Whad'ya mean Yggdrasil's been tampered with?"

The boy sighed, used to the woman's behavior at this point. She was always forceful with her deliveries, blunt and to the point. At least it told him that she read his message, so there's that. He responded with a knowing tone, ready to provide any explanation she needed, but not without a proper greeting.

"Nice to see you up and lively, Lavinia," he responded. The woman didn't want to hear pleasantries at this point, only wanting her question answered. To hear that something as large as Yggdrasil had been messed with, there was some action that needed to be taken. However, she wanted more explanation on how this could have happened in the first place.

"Answer me, Alex."

Alex cracked his knuckles, making sure not to ruin the bandages on his arms. "We got multiple Aufwachen waveform readings over the past couple of weeks," he informed, pulling a remote out of his drawer to turn on a projector.

Once the projector above his head was on, the empty wall displayed a map of the city, three red dots blinking at different locations. The first was right beside the Kazanari residence, displaying the first advent of the being labeled in their notes as Shem-ha Mephorash, the "God" that led to the activation of Yggdrasil. The second was within an open clearing, no buildings within a few miles distance of that opening. The final point was also similar, but it was much closer to the first point in terms of distance.

From what they had heard, that spot was the point from where Yggdrasil fell, causing the other pillars to fall as well. Lavinia rolled her eyes at this map, her face falling since she couldn't figure out where Alex was going with this.

"So what? They got Gears out there, that's nothin'-"

Her retort was cut short, something that wasn't out of the ordinary during conversations with Lavinia. Whenever she had something to clap back with during briefings, Alex would shut her up and continue, since she would always try to cut him off at inopportune moments.

"These were different. These were from a completely different Relic."

And just like that, Lavinia was silenced, her eyes widening now that he got to the big reveal, the projection simply revealing the word "UNKNOWN" right beside all three of the spots. The Bavarian Illuminati had the records of all the Relics that had an Aufwachen reading before, whether it be from previous battles involving their fallen Alchemists or via the Relics they give to supported and funded parties. Because of this, it didn't make sense that they didn't know what that Relic could be.

Even if it wasn't in their files already, their system should have been able to read the Relic's classification anyways. In addition, the projection had displayed other readings of Relics, such as the Ame no Habakiri and Airgetlám at the first point and Shul Shagana and Igalima at the second point. So... how?

"What's weirder is that every activation was within or close to the remnants of the Yggdrasil System. The thing that you'll be interested in..."

Her breath was held as he gave his last comment. "...is that it was apparently a result from one of the Noires." Lavinia's mood shifted, now being a face that displayed pure excitement compared to her annoyance moments prior. The Noire twins were a set of girls that she knew all too well, especially considering that they'd been giving them special treatment based on their relationship with their late mother.

However, her experiences with the two had been the same as the trio that stood behind her, with the only difference being that her rivalry with the twins lasted far longer. When Alex stated that the Aufwachen readings were a result of one of them, her grin began to twitch, since she knew exactly which of the twins he was talking about.

"When I get my hands on her-"

Alex noticed this change in attitude, so he stopped her, ready to give her the cold reality that he was withholding from her.

"We haven't been able to locate them. Their house is completely empty."

Her expression fell slightly, but it didn't deter her. If that girl finally activated a Relic, Lavinia wanted the first chance to see what it could do, not anyone else. "Well, where'd they go then, smart guy?" Her response came out a lot sharper than usual, which meant that she was completely invested in the situation. Alex only shrugged, but he let her in on the rest of their findings and theories that they had. "More than likely, they're with those who dealt with the Custodian. However, we noticed that they're investigating the openings of Yggdrasil."

"Why?"

Once again, he shrugged, not having an answer to why either of the twins were with people they could only describe as enemies. The group of S.O.N.G. had been working on dismantling the Bavarian Illuminati, which led to the entire group splitting off into their own factions. Most of them had already been taken care of, but the few that remained were trying to make sure that they weren't found out without a plan of retaliation. Noble Red was an example, but they were found by the head of the Kazanari name, only to lead to their end.

Their faction was similar, but unlike Noble Red, they had a force that was beyond comprehension on their side, just lying in wait.

"Your guess is just as good as mine."

Lavinia had no words, only because she knew that he was telling the truth. He wasn't lying to her about not knowing where they were or why they were investigating the Yggdrasil System, but something else felt off. Even if he was telling the truth, she felt like he was hiding something from her, like an ulterior motive. "I was planning on sending Elena and Roze down to intercept them, but I figured to see if you wanted to tag along."

"What, is the squirt too lazy to get up and finally do somethin' with 'erself?"

A scoff escaped Lavinia's lips, her eyes meeting the trio that she had disregarded up to this point. Her rivalry with the trio always came with designated remarks to each individual member. The one she was referring to this time, being Astrid, was always known for not wanting to do extraneous work.

Similar to Lavinia, her thought process was that she just wanted to do what she wanted, but unlike the woman in her late-20's, Astrid was focused on lazing around, which was displayed by her messy black hair falling down her back. In addition, her height was much shorter compared to everyone else, so names like "Shorty" or "Kiddo" were always on the table for Lavinia to use, unlike with the other two. Aside from Astrid, Elena was the only other one worth teasing, if only to hear how much she can hype herself up just to take her from that pedestal later.

Astrid glared at Lavinia, her attention now diverted from her phone to her "superior". She could handle the constant teasing, but she would have a retort to this.

"I have other things to do, but seeing as how excited to see to be about fighting those two, it seems like you have nothing better to do with your life."

"You're lucky I don't-"

Alex raised his hands, cutting any arguments that they would have had off before they escalated. While fighting wasn't an uncommon occurrence that he would just allow for entertainment, this time, they needed to make sure that they got the initial situation resolved first.

"Let's keep fighting to a minimum. Elena, Roze, you two just remain on standby. Lavinia, I'll leave the Noires to you. I want you to bring Leia back."

Lavinia crossed her arms with a huff, while the other two girls had their own reactions. Elena rolled her eyes at this order, seeing as if Alex gave this order, this just meant that they weren't going to be a part of the mission. Anytime they were put on "standby", that just meant that they weren't allowed near the objective. Intercepting the Noires sounded like fun, since Elena never actually met them directly and only heard about them by name. The only one who had seen them within her group was Roze, but she had no opinion on them.

What's more, if they did have a Relic or were with S.O.N.G., Elena wanted a chance to display her title as the Scarlet Shield, even if the ones she was fighting weren't aware of said title. Roze, on the other hand, was indifferent to this order, twirling her silver braid as Elena's eyes narrowed at the order. She didn't care about being cut off from fighting, but she rarely cared about anything. She was the type to follow orders and do only that, so if the order was to stay put, so be it. Elena flipped her crimson hair, turning to the door after being advised of their orders, but Lavinia had words for Alex.

"And why'm I doin' that?"

She didn't have an issue with chasing down Leia, but bringing her back wasn't in her plans. She just wanted to see how strong this new Relic was, whether it was stronger than hers or not. Alex finally gave her a stern look, different from the original carefree expression he had during his briefing and Lavinia's entrance. He was serious about bringing back this girl and while Lavinia may have had apprehensions about this, this was something he wasn't budging on.

"Something's telling me that whatever she has is much more impressive compared to Galatine."

Of course, that was what he wanted. If the Relic the girl had was comparable to the holy sword, then that would give them quite an edge in their plans. But did they even have the holy sword still?

Alex didn't mention it until now, so its whereabouts weren't exactly confirmed. She thought to ask him, but it wasn't a top priority right now. If anything, he'd tell her about it later and she'd just assume that it was still in the hands of the girl. With this order issued out to her, Lavinia leaned onto the wooden desk from behind, her arms still crossed with a dissatisfied look on her face.

"I'll do it, but... she might not make it back alive."

It was her way of saying that she was still doing things her way, even if it sounded like it was defiant against his wishes. He said to bring her back, but he didn't say what state she was brought back in. Plus, it wouldn't have been a problem considering the upgrades she received. She had a pretty good grasp of this new power, though the power of the Lapis Philosophorum wasn't a tool she was completely adept with.

Not that she needed to, since it was a part of Nothung now rather than being a tool she needed to apply alchemy with. If it were the case of the latter, she might as well throw it away.

Alex reassured her after her statement, taking it as a sign that she was still taking on the challenge. Lavinia didn't question why he didn't do it himself, but he probably had his own things to attend to. She never went with him to any other meetings with other factions, so she could only guess that he had plans for the following days. It also gave her the ability to make her own timeframe for this objective, even though she was going to complete it as quickly as possible.

"As long as we get her Relic, that's fine with me. Any questions we'd have for her can just be answered by analyzing whatever you bring back. But..."

"What?"

Alex's stern tone persisted, making sure that this one thing stuck with Lavinia. If nothing else, this one would be the most important.

"Be sure to get Galatine back, if you can."

And just like that, the arc is finally completed! Thank you all for reading! I originally wrote this as a backstory for a set of OCs, since you can see how it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger (I might write the rest of their saga in the future, who knows), but since I had barely drawn anything to their origins, I figured to put it all out there in this way! If you want more for how the story of the Noires go, I have the Google Drive link to the entirety of their story on my profile, so go nuts with those drawings!

That being said, the series goes on a hiatus until further notice and I'll upload the beginning of the next arc... whenever I feel like it! Once again, thank you for reading!