Uriel bit her bottom lip as she paced tirelessly around the compound. It had been a few hours since the sun set. She had bands of Exorcist scouring the town, searching for any sign of her daughter and Touji's. With both Lucia and Irina missing, Griselda and Touji had volunteered to lead the search while Uriel searched the town tirelessly from above.

She bit her fingernail. The exorcists that remained at the compound stayed clear of her. In this state, there was no telling how the Archangel would lash out.

"Lady Uriel, you must remain calm. Griselda and Touji are some of the finest exorcists we currently have on hand. Miss Lucia and Miss Irina are in good hands," Ferdinand advised. The priest had his hands behind his back as he calmly watched the Archangel pull at her hair.

"Then why aren't they found yet? How is it possible that two seven year old girls manage to evade two teams of skilled exorcists for two hours!?" Uriel snapped.

Her wings flared along with her holy power, causing the entire building to shake violently. The chandelier above them rattled, creaking as the force of Uriel's holy power rattled its very foundations.

"My Lady, we must give them time. It has only been 2 hours. That and—"

The doors swung open, interrupting Ferdinand's train of thought. Griselda walked in with some blood on her cheek as she dragged something behind her. Touji came in after her with a grim look on his face.

Uriel turned around and her green eyes narrowed into slits when she saw what Griselda had in hand.

"It seems like there were a few more survivors than our exorcists accounted for, Lady Uriel. We found this one hiding in the inn," Griselda said as she threw a pale man donning lavish clothing that resembled something worn by Victorian Era aristocracy.

The man groaned and looked up. His pale skin went several shades paler when he saw the glowing green eyes of Uriel boring straight into his soul. The sheer pressure of her presence was suffocating and each breath he took felt like he was inhaling a gallon of water.

"So there were more. And here I thought we got them all," Uriel said.

The exorcist who reported to her earlier stiffened.

"Is this the last one?" Uriel asked.

"I've killed the two others hiding in the inn and Griselda reported that she killed another one before this. It seems that in the chaos, not everyone was taken into account," Touji said. "There might be more that are unaccounted for in town."

Uriel gave the vampire a look of utter disdain. She reached forward and grabbed the back of his scalp, painfully pulling his hair.

"You and your ilk are very brave to come into my territory and fight a war," Uriel said in a low and menacing tone.

"I-I am a proud member of House Manthar… If you harm me, you'll invite war from the Tepes Faction," the vampire said, attempting to intimidate her.

"Oh? Then by all means," Uriel said.

"Lady Uriel. We must attend to the matter at hand," Ferdinand said.

Uriel's jaw clenched. She removed her hand from the vampire's hair. "Why are you and your kind here? This area is under the jurisdiction of Heaven. Tell me. Is Vlad Tepes really that foolish to invite a war from Heaven when they already have their hands full fighting a war against the Carmilla Faction?" Uriel walked around him. She left charred footprints in her wake.

The Manthar Vampire shook. He had never felt fear this intense before. Not when he faced against the vampires of the Carmilla Faction nor when he faced vampire hunters. This monster with an angelic face was something worse than everything he had ever encountered.

"W-We never meant for our fight to spill out into your territory. My kinsman and I were merely passing through," the Manthar Vampire sputtered.

"I find that hard to believe. At least make your lies more believable," she replied. The heat in the room began to steadily rise.

"I-I'm not lying! I swear on the name of the Progenitor, Dracula! We were ambushed! Ambushed by the forces of Erzsebet Bathory!" the Manthar Vampire swore.

Uriel paused. "Are there more of you?"

"N-No. Your filthy pet humans killed them all," the Manthar Vampire hissed.

"Good. Now, consider your next answer very carefully," she turned to face the vampire with a mirthless smile on her face. "Have you seen two girls? One with black hair and the other with orange-brown hair?"

The Manthar Vampire raised an eyebrow. "No. No, I have not. I fled with my kinsman as we scattered. But… had I seen them…" At this moment, a foolish bravery welled up within him. "I wouldn't hesitate to gut a child of the Church."

Uriel's smile only widened. She grabbed him by his throat. "I'll let you die with this knowledge. If I find that there is a single scratch on their bodies, I will not hesitate to reduce Romania to a smoldering crater and wipe out every last vampire in existence."

Before the Manthar Vampire could respond, he felt a white-hot burning pain sear through his body. He let out an animalistic, agonized scream as white light poured out of his mouth and eyes. Every second of his demise felt like years of torture in hell. It burned worse than any magical flame and he felt every instant of his organs being reduced to a liquefied pool of char. He struggled and clawed at her arm uselessly as he tried to fight with every ounce of strength he had left to end this hellish torture.

The other Exorcists watched grimly as Uriel mercilessly and brutally executed the vampire before her. This was the Archangel that even Gods were wary of for unlike her siblings, Uriel lacked any semblance of mercy.

Uriel dropped the Vampire's corpse on the ground as if it were garbage. His eye sockets were nothing more than blackened smoldering pits. Parts of his mouth were burned at the lips, giving off the odor of burnt meat.

"I want every Exorcist in this compound scouring the area. Move to the surrounding towns. If you see a single one of these biters, execute them on the spot. Show no mercy," Uriel turned to the Exorcists with fury blazing in her flaming green eyes. "Find the girls and leave no survivors."

Her twelve wings spread from her back before she disappeared in a pillar of red flames.

"Shoot! We're in so much trouble!" Lucia said as she and Irina ran through the woods. "Mama's going to kill me for being out this late! And Selda too!"

"My dad's going to kill me for running off!" Irina said.

The two girls had lost track of time when they played by the creek. With Irina's encouragement, Lucia kept showing off her newfound powers, albeit she was a bit unskilled at controlling it. For hours, she threw balls of Holy Power at the rock, causing bigger and bigger explosions yet the shielded rock continued to mock her efforts. After a while, the two spent the next hour skipping rocks across the stream.

"Why didn't you tell me it was getting late!?" Lucia said.

"What? Me! I thought you were keeping track of time!" Irina argued.

The two girls bickered as they tried to find their way out but the lack of proper sunlight along with the shadows of the canopy made finding their way out difficult.

"Didn't we pass by here?" Lucia asked as she looked around.

"I-I don't know. I… I want my Dad," Irina said as she began to sniffle. Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes at the thought of being lost. The bravado she had earlier began to fade away.

"H-Hey, don't cry! We're heroes, remember? We're supposed to be brave so we can fight the Shadows and the Epilogue together," Lucia said as she tried to comfort Irina, who was on the verge of breaking down.

Irina sniffled and nodded. Lucia held her hand and tried to keep herself together. She was also scared. For all the blustering and grandstanding she and Irina had done earlier, she wasn't used to being by herself in a strange place for a long period of time. The darkness around her made her anxious.

"C-Come on. Let's go," Lucia's voice wavered as she pulled Irina further into the woods.

The woods became more disorienting as they trekked further and further along. Every sound put them on edge. On top of that, it seemed to grow darker with each step they took. Lucia's grip around Irina's hand tightened as the two girls tried to stay brave like their parents would have wanted.

And as if to mock them, mist began to form around them.

"R-Rin, I can't see," Lucia squinted as she tried to see through the fog.

"Me neither," Irina said as she stuck close to Lucia.

A twig snapped to their left, causing the two girls to whirl around. There was a tall shadow standing between two of the trees. Lucia stood protectively in front of Irina, trying her best to look brave as the shadow stepped out into the dim moonlight.

The man was unnaturally pale. He had a pair of pointed ears and matted blonde hair. He was dressed in what appeared to be military clothing from an older era with a short tattered red cape behind him. But his most distinctive features were the pair of fangs peeking out from his upper lip.

Lucia's eyes changed color as she scanned the man before her.

[Balthazar Vladi]

[Estimating Combat Level… Strength: 150, Durability: 100, Speed: 145, Magic: 130, Skill: 72. Calculating overall combat capabilities - 597]

5-597! That's higher than me and Rin! A-And Mama's not here. Lucia took a slight step back, still keeping herself before Irina.

"Well, well, well, just when I thought I'd have to go through the night without any food," Balthazar said as he licked his lips. There was a feral hunger in his eyes. "Hello there, little girl."

Lucia said nothing as she glared as fiercely as she could at the vampire.

Balthazar's amused smirk only grew wider at Lucia's glare. "What a scary face you have there, little miss. And your friend behind you… hello there."

Irina mustered up the fiercest glare she could but the vampire could smell her fear and hear her heart racing.

"You know. It's polite to say hello when a grown up talks to you," Balthazar took a step forward.

"My Mama told me to never talk to strangers," Lucia said.

"Your Mama sounds like a smart person. My name is Balthazar. I'm just a nice man who got lost in the woods. There, now that you know my name, we're not strangers anymore, are we, Miss…?" Balthazar tilted his head slightly.

Lucia and Irina said nothing.

"I see. Well, let's not waste any time then. I'm sure your Mama is out looking for you two, so how about you both come with me and I'll escort you two back into town? What do you say? Do you trust Uncle Balthazar?" he asked as he offered his hand.

Lucia looked at his hand as if it were poison. She took a step back, along with Irina.

Her action made Balthazar frown.

"That's rude. Didn't your Mom teach you to listen to grown ups?" he said with an annoyed look on his face. He took another step forward, determined to grab Lucia. His hunger was beginning to reach a crescendo and his instincts called on him to turn these two children into his own personal blood bags.

Lucia bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to think of something. Anything. Her eyes lit up and she reached into her pocket. "Hey Mister!"

"Hmm?" Balthazar raised an eyebrow and paused for a moment. "What do you have there, Little Miss?" he smiled as he reached forward to see what Lucia was fumbling for in her pocket.

With a rush of adrenaline flowing through her, Lucia pulled a small bottle from her pocket and uncapped it.

Water…? Wait, no, that's Holy Water—!?

Before he could react, Lucia sprayed some of the water in his hand and face. The effects were almost immediate. He recoiled in agony, letting out a primal scream of pain. Smoke wafted from his body as he stumbled back, holding his face. The water felt like acid, eating through his flesh and exposing bone.

"You! You filthy bitch!" Balthazar hissed through the pain. "You dare…!"

"Come on! RUN!" Lucia grabbed Irina's hand and ran deeper into the woods.

"Aggghhh! When I find you, I'll skin you alive!" Balthazar roared.

The two girls disappeared into the brush as Balthazar's flesh fell off in clumps of blood and muscle. The fallen flesh bubbled on the ground as the holy water ate away at it. Balthazar's breaths came out in ragged gasps as he straightened himself. What remained of his face and hand were nothing more than raw red muscle. His left eye had completely melted away, leaving behind a dark eye socket.

"You. I hope you can run fast, little girl. Because I won't let you get away," Balthazar said as he followed after them.

"Where are we going!?" Irina panted as she and Lucia ran for their lives.

The trees breeze by them but they could never seem to escape this mist. The mist grew thicker as they continued moving, as if it had a mind of its own. There was the faint echo of bats chirping around them.

"That vampire is going to eat us if he gets us!" Lucia said as she continued to run. "Ferdinand told me in my lessons! Vampires drink blood! If he drinks our blood, we're going to die!"

Irina paled at her words. "What do we do!?" Irina yelled.

"Run! We run!" Lucia said.

The two kept running. Balthazar's laughter seemed to echo from all around them and no matter how far they went, the mist always seemed to grow thicker. The trees all began to blend together and look the same as if they had been running in a circle.

Eventually, fatigue set in as Lucia and Irina came to a stop in a clearing.

"Come on, little girls. Come out, come out wherever you are! I'm not mad. I promise!"

Irina whimpered as the two ducked behind some bushes. Lucia placed her hand over Irina's mouth and her own to stifle their breathing.

The sound of footsteps walked past them.

"Come on now. Are we playing hide and seek, now?" Balthazar said.

Lucia felt her heart beating out of her chest as Balthazar's footsteps came to a stop near them.

"Hey. You know. What you did back there was really bad. It's not nice to throw holy water in someone's face," Balthazar looked around, sniffing the air for any sign of them. Their scent seemed to be everywhere. He clicked his tongue and adjusted his nose to get a better whiff of the air around him. The holy water inside his head was messing with his senses.

Lucia held her breath as the footsteps grew fainter and fainter. She let out a sigh of relief and took her hand away from Irina's mouth. The usually cheerful girl looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"W-What do we do?" Irina whispered. "That monster is going to eat us, right?"

"No, no! He's not!" Lucia said, trying to reassure her friend but even she didn't believe her own words. She gripped the hem of her shirt and tried to think. Her mind raced through every possibility that she could think of.

"I have an idea," Lucia said. She handed the bottle of Holy Water to Irina. "This thing can hurt that monster. All we need to do is hit him with this and this." Lucia held up a small ball of black and red light.

"But how?"

Lucia furrowed her brow. "I don't know. I…"

Lucia felt a chill run down her spine when she heard breathing coming directly behind her. She jumped up but was grabbed by something. She kicked and struggled as she was turned to face the burnt, melted face of Balthazar Vladi.

"There you are, Little Miss," he said. He brought his grotesque face close to hers, taking a sniff of her. The scent of her blood almost drove him wild with hunger.

"Let me go!" Lucia yelled.

"Oh no. Bad kids deserve to be punished. So I'm going to take my time and skin you alive," Balthazar said. His nails sharpened, morphing into wicked talons.

Lucia's breath hitched as she thrashed harder in his grasp. Her eyes shifted color as she stared Balthazar directly in the eye.

[Guide updated…]

[Vampire Weaknesses: Garlic, Sunlight, Running Water, Holy Items, Holy Power]

"Let me go!" Lucia shrieked. Her body let loose a flash of black and red light that instantly incinerated Balthazar's hand. Lucia fell to the ground as Balthazar stumbled back, holding his now charred hand.

"Gaaagggh! You little bitch!" the vampire roared as he kicked Lucia across the clearing into a tree.

The tree shook violently as Lucia's small body hit it with tremendous force. "Ugh…" Lucia groaned as she weakly got on her hands and knees.

"I'm going to enjoy peeling your skin off. You know… I've never drank the blood of an angel before. I wonder how your people taste," Balthazar hissed as he slowly walked over to her.

"STOP IT!"

Balthazar paused and turned to see Irina standing behind him. She glared but her body shook with fear.

"You should've stayed hidden, Runt. But I guess people from the Church are always ready to die for each other. It's stupid, really. No wonder inferior species such as yourself are nothing more than food for superior beings like me. No matter. After I finish with her, I'll come for you so…" Balthazar reached for Irina with his clawed hand. "Why don't you take a time out?"

But Irina was ready. She swung her hand out from behind her back and sprayed the rest of the holy water across Balthazar's face and hands.

"RAAAGGGHHH! YOU LITTLE WHORE!" the vampire roared in pain and rage. He swung his arm blindly, striking Irina across the face with the back of his hand. The girl was sent sprawling across the ground.

"GAAGGH! MY EYES! Haaahhhh!" Balthazar let out a long-winded breath of pain. His only remaining eye had been melted away by the holy water, leaving black pits in his skull. He turned to where Irina's scent was. "You know what? If you're really that impatient…" he took in a sharp breath. "I'll deal with you first. I'll gouge out your eyes and then drain you dry. It'll be like drinking a juice box. And I'll send your shriveled eyeless corpse to the pig that spawned you, little bitch."

"Don't touch her."

Balthazar whirled around at the sound of Lucia's voice.

Lucia stared into the vampire's eyeless head. Holy aura was flooding from her body, blanketing the field in a warm red light.

"Oh, and what are you going to do, little bird?" Balthazar cackled. "You have no holy water left."

Lucia bit her cheek. She had to use it. But how can she even hurt this guy if she couldn't even blow up a stupid rock? She looked at the downed Irina and made up her mind. She had to be brave like her Mom. Mama would never be afraid of a stupid bat.

Lucia closed her eyes and gathered holy power through her body. Her innate nature as an Angel guided her through it. A long-dormant power that lay within the depths of her holy power began to surge forth. Wisps of black and red light formed in her hands. It was different from all the other balls of holy power she had made.

It crackled with newfound power that even the vampire could sense.

Lucia clenched her jaw as she poured every ounce of energy she could muster. The ball grew brighter, swirling as it crackled with unstable energy.

Lucia spread her wings and flew forward, zipping around Balthazar.

"Stay still, cocky brat!" Balthazar unleashed a beam of red energy that narrowly missed Lucia.

Lucia zipped to a tree branch before launching off it. The swirling ball of crackling black and red energy grew larger and larger as she continued to put more power into it. The shadows around them seemed to elongate before they were ripped and infused into the swirling ball of light.

"Over there!" Balthazar hissed as he whipped his head around, trying to pinpoint her exact location. The hole where his ear used to be picked up the sound of a twig snapping and he spun on his feet, firing a spear of blood at the direction of the sound.

But Lucia had already darted away from his aim. She twisted around the spear and cocked her arm back. A large swirling orb of red light and black shadow spun above her palm.

"Take thiiiss!" Lucia yelled as she hurled the swirling ball of red and black light at Balthazar.

"GAAAH!" Balthazar screamed in pain as the orb slammed into him, catapulting him through several trees. His body was thrown like a ragdoll across the forest.

A tremendous explosion shook the woods and lit the night sky in a blood red light. Lucia landed on the ground, breathing raggedly as her power left her. The adrenaline high she felt began to fade away, leaving her exhausted and on the ground. The blast wave of her final attack washed over her, uprooting some small trees and violently rattling the larger ones.

After a few seconds, Lucia struggled to get to her feet. She looked over to where Irina lay unconscious on the ground. There was a large bruise forming on her cheek. "Rin…," Lucia whispered as she limped over.

She shook Irina gently. "Rin, we gotta go. Come on, get up. We need to get home," Lucia said as she tugged on Irina's arm. Groaning with extreme effort, Lucia tried to lift Irina up, supporting her with one arm like how she had seen other Exorcists do at the Institution.

"Rin… come on…!" Lucia grunted as she took a step forward. Her feet weighed as much as lead. Each step she took needed a considerable amount of effort.

She had taken no more than a couple of steps when she heard a familiar voice behind her. Her blood ran cold as she looked over her shoulder.

Balthazar limped toward them. His right arm was covered in a wispy black shadow that carried small particles of red light. The darkness spread through Balthazar's arm, carrying the light like a pathogen and corroding it until it fell off Balthazar's body. Blood poured profusely from his eye holes and mouth. His clothes were in tatters and his body littered with severe third-degree burns.

"You filthy… bitch! I'll get you for that. I'll kill you!" Balthazar said. "I don't care anymore! I'll drink you dry!"

Balthazar hissed before transforming into a flock of shadowy bats that flew at the two girls.

Lucia bit her lip and summoned the red and black light to her palm again. But it was too late, Balthazar transformed back into physical form and lunged at her with his claws and fangs on full display.

Mama… please… save me!

Lucia closed her eyes as she awaited the inevitable only for it to never come. She cracked an eye open and noticed Balthazar frozen in midair mere inches from her.

"W-What!? What manner of devilry is this!?" Balthazar said.

Before he could say anything else, he was thrown and pinned violently against a tree. His remaining arm and legs were brutally nailed to the tree with stakes made of pure light. Balthazar roared in agony as he was crucified.

"What…?" Lucia's eyes widened when she saw a rain of white feathers. An immense level of holy power flooded the area, causing the Earth to quake violently. Cracks appeared on the ground and the wind began to pick up.

Lucia, in her haze, prepared for a fight as she poured more and more energy into her tiny orb. It grew to the size of a basketball, a swirling mass of red and black energy.

"Stay back!" Lucia warned.

"Luci…?" A woman appeared in her hazy vision as she lashed out in a frenzy, sending a wave of energy at her supposed assailant.

"Luci! Luci, stop it's me! You're safe. You're safe now," the woman walked through her onslaught without so much as a scratch on her and wrapped her arms around her.

A familiar scent flooded Lucia's nose, calming her down. The smell of lavender, shampoo, and something unique that only she could recognize. The haze in her vision cleared as she came face to face with the warm green eyes of her mother.

"Mama…?" Lucia whispered. The black and red light crackling around Lucia's body dissipated as she began to calm down.

"Yes, yes, My Little Star, it's me. Mama's here. You're okay. You're okay," Uriel reassured her as she held her daughter tightly in her arms.

"Mama… I was brave," Lucia said quietly.

"Yes, you were a brave girl," Uriel whispered soothingly as she stroked her daughter's back.

Lucia smiled before passing out in her mother's arms as the fear and exhaustion finally caught up with her.

Uriel smiled gently as she cradled her daughter. She glanced at the unconscious Irina before turning to the vampire she had crucified on the tree. Her eyes glowed as she beckoned to the vampire with her finger.

Balthazar screamed as he was ripped away from the stakes and the tree, pulled toward Uriel by an unseen force.

"Which family are you from?" Uriel asked in an unnervingly calm manner. Her green eyes glowed ominously.

"I… Go fuck yourself— AHHHHH!"

Uriel gently tapped his chest with her finger, sending an excruciating amount of holy power into his system.

The vampire thrashed and howled in pain. "Okay! OKAY! THE VLADI FAMILY!"

"I see. So this little caravan wasn't just the Manthar Family. It looks like the Vampires of Romania need to learn to keep their war in their borders," Uriel mused as she took her finger away. "It seems like I need to pay Vlad and Erzsebet a visit about boundaries."

Balthazar panted, whimpering as he felt the sense of impending death looming over him. "Please… mercy…"

"There is no mercy. Tonight, your family won't even have a corpse to bury," Uriel said as she walked away. She snapped her fingers and Balthazar threw his head back and let out a tortured howl.

"AGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as holy fire burned through his insides.

Plumes of flame erupted from his eye sockets and mouth. His body spasmed as fire erupted from cracks that formed on his skin, eating his flesh and turning them into black char. He felt every second of it as the holy flames licked and devoured each organ inside his body. The remaining skin on his eyes and mouth melted away. After a few agonizing seconds, he let out a death rattle as his entire body was reduced to a black charred corpse which disintegrated to ash shortly after.

Uriel walked over to where Irina lay and gently scooped her into her other arm.

Just now, that power Luci used. No doubt about it… that was Leliel…, she thought as she gazed down at her unconscious daughter.

"Come on, you two. Let's go home," she said as she disappeared in a swirl of red flames, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ashes where Balthazar once stood.

An infinite expanse of stars was what she opened her eyes to. The galactic nebulae swirled, forming a vast tree whose height she could not see the end of and whose roots extended into infinity. Above her and the immeasurably large tree was a vast gold and black object resembling a star. Its corona formed a four-point crown and bathed the entirety of the cosmic background in a rainbow of lights.

Nine lesser lights shone above her, outshining the infinitude of lights that made up the tree's trunk.

The nine lights glittered and orbited the canopy of the "tree", whose boughs held an immeasurable number of stars.

Wait…? Nine? There were supposed to be…

"Ten," she whispered.

She gazed down below her into the boundless darkness. It was a darkness whose depths knew no bounds. Flickering lights from the "tree" fell into the "sea", only to be swallowed by one of the nine monstrous shadows that lay beneath its roiling sea of darkness. Its surface shifted, causing its waves to slam against the trunk of the "tree", producing a myriad of colors that her mind could not comprehend.

She took a step back.

As soon as she did, she hit something she couldn't see. Her eyes blinked as she tried to make sense of what lay before her.

A flickering light similar to the ones that flew above.

"[...]?"

Behind her, the Shadows rose from the "Sea", numbering nine in total.

The voices spoke and whispered but she couldn't understand a thing they were saying. She gripped the side of her head, trying to block out the noise when the flickering light behind her extended one of its soft, multicolored rays and gently wrapped around her.

"The gap between us and tomorrow grows ever larger..."

A soothing voice came into her mind. That voice sounded very much like…

But before she could finish that train of thought, a rush of visions passed through her. Visions like the dreams she had been having.

Of the boy who had the red gauntlet and the girls at his side. The one that stood out among them all. Her existence was lit like a beacon and shined even brighter than the boy's. All she could see was her crimson-red hair.

And then the vision radically shifted. The red-haired girl turned to her, speaking words she could not hear. As her vision faded, all she saw was a burning wasteland and the red-haired girl whose hair was slowly turning white.

The first thing Lucia awoke to was yelling. She shot up in bed, panting heavily. A trail of cold sweat trickled down her forehead and dripped onto the blanket.

"Luci!"

Lucia looked up, her vision still hazy and groggy from her impromptu nap. She looked around, taking in the familiar color of her room's wallpaper along with the scattered stuffed animals and books strewn haphazardly across the room. Lucia turned to see her mother's worried face as Uriel checked her for any wounds.

"Luci, my little star. Does anything hurt?" Uriel asked.

"M-Mama…?"

"Yes, baby. It's me. You're safe. You're safe now," Uriel said as she pulled her daughter in for another hug.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake, Lucia."

Lucia looked up past her mother to see a familiar white-haired woman in black and white clothing.

"Auntie… Ellie?" Lucia said, her voice muffled in her mother's shoulder.

Helel smiled and nodded. "You had all of us worried for a second there."

Lucia pulled away from her mother. "R-RIN! IRINA! Mama, Irina, we have to go get her! She got hurt—!" Lucia said frantically as she grabbed Uriel's shoulders.

"Huh? Luci, Irina is fine. She woke up a few hours before you did. Irina's been sitting here in your room for over 3 hours. She just went to go get a drink of water," Uriel reassured her.

"B-But! That pale man! The vampire, I saw him—!"

"Sweetheart, she's okay," Uriel reassured her.

"Promise…?"

"I promise," Uriel said, stroking her daughter's hair softly.

The day's events finally caught up with her. The fear and anxiety she had been hiding for so long in the woods finally broke through her emotional dam. Lucia hugged her mother tightly and began to cry. "Mama! I'm sorry I didn't listen!" she wailed into her mother's arms. Her small body shook with the force of her sobs as she desperately clung to Uriel's dress.

Uriel hugged her daughter tightly, rubbing soothing circles along her back and petting the spine of her wings. "Shh, it's okay, Luci. I'm just glad you're okay. That's all that matters."

The two stayed like that for a few minutes as Lucia continued to cry in her mother's arms. Helel glanced at her younger sister and nodded. A silent agreement passed between them to discuss their argument at a later time. After Helel left and Lucia stopped crying, Irina was allowed to enter the room with Touji.

There, another few minutes of crying ensued as the two girls hugged the life out of each other. Uriel smiled slightly. Irina had managed to break through the stoic facade her daughter usually put on for others outside of the Institution.

Uriel thought about the future. The argument she and her sister had. Now that she wasn't allowed to "negotiate" with the vampires in Romania, all she could do was make sure Lucia had all she needed to defend herself.

Leliel… a Power of God Miracle that belonged to the Angel of Night, Laylah. I can't believe I didn't see the resemblance much sooner, Uriel mused.

She would need training to efficiently use her Miracle in the future. That meant that it was time to take the training wheels off her daughter as much as she hated it.

"Mama! MAMA!"

Uriel blinked and snapped out of her reverie. "Yes, Luci. What is it?" Uriel asked.

"Can I make Irina my Apostle!" Lucia asked giddily, her previous sadness now a thing of the past.

Irina nodded alongside Lucia, looking at the Great Seraph with pleading eyes.

Uriel turned to Touji, who was also watching their interaction silently. "Ask your father, Irina."

"Dad! I want to become an Apostle! Please, please, please, pleaaaaaaasssse!" Irina begged.

"Eh…? Um…," Touji rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit put on the spot. "L-Let's ask your mother first."

"Awww," Irina visibly deflated at his answer.

"Don't worry. All we have to do is get your Mom to say yes, right?" Lucia said. "Then we can keep playing together and become super heroes when we're grown ups!"

"Yeah!" Irina agreed and the two girls went back to their innocent, childish conversation of heroes and villains.

"Watch over the girls, Touji. I have some things to discuss with my older sister," Uriel said as she left the room.

She didn't have to walk far when she saw Helel waiting for her around the corner. Her older sister was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. "Is she okay?"

"She wants Touji Shidou's daughter to become her Apostle," Uriel said.

"And…?"

"I told them to ask Touji. But I'd rather they wait until Lucia can properly control her Holy Power. Perhaps in a few months," Uriel said as she walked past her older sister.

Helel fell into step beside her as the two walked down the hallway. "You cannot shelter her forever. She is your daughter. She's going to play a big role on the world stage as the daughter of the Archangel Uriel."

"She's just a kid. I want her to enjoy her life as a kid should. I don't want her to go out there when the world is teetering on the edge of war," Uriel replied hotly.

"I never said to train her to be a soldier. But you can't keep her ignorant of the world forever. She has to know. And she has to know what happened to her parents. That Miracle was Leliel, was it not?" Helel asked.

Uriel nodded stiffly.

"So she really is Laylah's daughter. Fitting for her daughter of the Angel named Night to inherit her mother's ability to control holy light and infuse it with darkness. Such a power can be dangerous if she doesn't learn to control it," Helel said.

Uriel remained silent at her sister's words. After a few seconds, Uriel spoke up. "You're right. I know you're right… but I can't help but want to keep her close for a little while longer. She's just a kid. You and I never got a childhood, Big Sis. I want to give that to her at least."

Helel nodded in understanding. "You don't have to take her childhood away from her but at least don't make her naive about the world. Because when she eventually wants to go out and explore all the world has to offer, you won't always be there to guide her."

"I understand," Uriel said. After a few seconds of silence, Uriel looked at her older sister. "And what about her dreams?"

"What about them?" Helel asked.

"The ones that come true. Everything she's dreamed of and drawn so far has almost always come to pass. Do you think she might be a…"

"A Prophet? Unlikely. The Sephirot records the names of all Prophets that will be born past, present, and future. I didn't see her name anywhere in the System," Helel replied.

"I see."

"Though, hmm," Helel rubbed her chin. "It's a hunch I need to look into. For now, just go be with your daughter. And don't go and declare war on Romania, you hear?" Helel vanished in a flurry of violet feathers.

Uriel sighed. She was about to return to the room when two blurs ran past her. Uriel smiled as she watched her daughter and Irina running down the stairs, presumably to go play some random game in the Institution. Deciding that it can come later, Uriel watched from the upstairs balcony as her daughter chased her friend.

Tonight and the night after, Lucia would still be a child. A child whose innocence Uriel would do her best to protect. Eventually, she would need to let her child handle her trials by herself no matter how much she wished for Lucia not to. But until that day comes, Uriel would shield her from everything.

That's right. Even after Lucia stood on her own two feet and forged her own path with the people she chose to surround herself with, Uriel would always stand behind her, ready to catch her when she fell.

And so, Lucia ran burst through the double doors of the Institution, just as the light of the sun shined through the windows.

"Luci! We're going to be late!" Irina stood in her training gear and waved a wooden sword around. She had that same bubbly grin plastered onto her face.

"Coming!" Lucia said as she tied her hair back and ran after her.

It had been 1 year since that fateful incident.

And Lucia had turned 8 years old.

Housekeeping:

Royalrain20xx: So far, I'm liking the premise of this, I've never really read a story about DxD from Heaven's perspective. Lucia being a sleeping OP monster is definitely something I'll be looking forward to as she grows more and more into the future. Not only that but, her having dream-like visions of the future is very intriguing, and since she has now met Irina, I wonder if things will remain the same between them or if there'll be some major shift as they learn more and more regarding the secrets of the supernatural world. Also, as expected, the interactions are pretty well written and leaves me feeling something warm as Uriel learns the joy of raising a child, now I'm just thinking of the possibility of Lucia wanting to meet her father's human family, surely that will go great right? Overall, can't wait to see how this story pans out, especially when it comes to Lucia learning more about herself.

Yeah, this is a bit different from how I usually answer reviews because in Red Sky, I usually don't post them but I'll do it here so I don't have to keep flipping between tabs. Anyway, I'm glad to know I'm your first Heaven story. I mean, I do see Angel Issei fics but usually, those end up in Kuoh anyway. A lot of them do incorporate Heaven into it but like, you're right, I've never seen anyone do like a sole, pinpoint focus on Heaven. Anywho, I'm rambling.

I won't say much about the dreams as I'll explain it in the note below. But yeah, Irina is her first friend so Irina is here for the long run. I don't know if you could tell but Irina is my favorite among the girls in canon. Don't ask me why because my answer will literally just be Yes. But I digress, I'll let you keep reading the story as a lot of the stuff I might spill will probably end up being spoiler territory.

I apologize if the ending seemed a bit confusing. I wanted to slip into a mini-time skip past her 8th birthday so we can cruise along the arc without me spending too much time on single useless issues while still moving the plot forward. Just to give you all a heads-up, this arc has about 3 time-skips. This is the second one where she turns 8 (the one from chapter 2-3 doesn't count), the next one is when she's 10 and the last one when she's 12 and that's where the arc will end.

To clear up a few things.

Lucia's Dreams: I won't say what they are. I've dropped almost no hints to confirm or deny any guesses that you people might have about them so go hog wild. I'll eventually trickle it all down starting now all the way to the end of the arc. But do pay attention to these dreams, they are a big indicator of... well, something hahaha.

Lucia's Miracle: Lucia's Miracle is called Leliel, which is just another name for Lailah, the Angel that governs Night and Pregnancy. For anyone who didn't understand Helel's brief description of it, the Miracle itself has the ability to infuse Darkness with Holy Light. You know, cuz her mom is the Angel of Night. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Laylah's Miracle in the first chapter was named Leliel. And no, it's not the same Leliel from EVA. Lucia cannot create a Dirac Sea and suck people into it... or can she? Just kidding, no.

The time skips: This arc is Lucia's childhood so do not expect me to write twelve years' worth of childhood development. It's a lot and that's what the time skips are for.

Apostles: This will get asked a lot but as I said in the previous Author's Note in the last chapter, the Apostle System will feed into the Brave Saint System. Now, I'll explain it in the next chapter but for now, just keep in mind that I'm not handing that status to everyone Lucia meets willy nilly because that's just silly.