Lethe leaned back in her chair with a sigh, rubbing the sides of her forehead.  Runes and symbols and Sin's eye were imprinted in her vision after staring at the papers for so long.  She blinked futilely and then glanced down the table at her squadmates.  YunQiao was still busy peering away at his notes and his copy of the symbols, occasionally scribbling down a note.  Leon was fiddling with the box, and Cricket's attention was on a map that he kept cross referencing to a stack of papers.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">"Anything?"</span>she prompted, pulling a clean sheet of paper to her.  She shook her hand out and then picked up her pen.<br/><br/>"As we already identified. The runes used are ‘reinforce,’ ‘protect,’ ‘subdue,’ Lillith’s symbol, and this unknown one.  The others all appear to be linking, stabilizing, and enhancing elements, along with what I’m guessing is Sin script.  There doesn’t appear to be a set order in how these runes are linked, except for, of course, the common prominence of Lillith’s symbol, which Captain spotted back in Lindela.  Unfortunately, without access to any libraries, I can’t decipher if there’s more meaning to the symbol besides its association with Lillith.”  YunQiao spread out the five major runes on the table.  He tapped on the ‘reinforce’ rune as he continued, “While I understand the importance of reinforcing the box, I don’t understand why they’d use such a Light dominant symbol.  I’d think it would mitigate the effect of the crystal, to be constantly fighting the Light.”<br/><br/>“But the counteracting might help mask the taint from our senses?”<br/>“It also puts the box at more risk of exploding.  The crystal is already fairly fragile, why else would they use all the stabilizing symbols?  And the enhancing.. wouldn’t it be to make the taint stronger?”<br/>“Well, maybe it’s enhancing.. the protect?”<br/>“Wait, sorry, what do you mean by Light dominant symbol?  Why is the ‘reinforce’ symbol Light dominant?”<br/>A sigh of exasperation before YunQiao explained: “The symbol is built around the sun in the center.  First the sun, then the pillars, finally the roof and then the radiance.”  He sketched out the symbol on a new paper and then turned it to face Cricket, who simply looked confused.<br/>“Uh… I thought you wrote the symbol this way..”  Cricket’s symbol was crafted from the top down: roof, left pillar, sun, right pillar, then the ground.<br/>“But then the sun’s prominence is diminished that way!  The symbol is built around the sun!”<br/>“Is that why you Glessians write in such complicated ways?  Top down, left right makes so much more sense than.. I dunno, center out?”<br/>“Complicated?!  Why do you think the meaning is ‘reinforce’?  The Sun’s light is reinforcing the structure!”<br/>“Huh… that actually kind of makes sense.. even if the stroke order is weird as heck.”<br/><span style="color: silver">“I always figured it was an Immaculate thing to write it from the center out..”</span><br/>“The stroke order is one of the most important parts of the character! It defines--”<br/><span style="color: silver">“The stroke order is that important?”</span><br/>“Captain! How can you not--? Yes! The stroke order helps craft the symbol’s intent and thus its strength!  The--that other way.. it must lose at least half of its strength!”<br/><span style="color: silver">“So if stroke order is that important.. and just between the four of us, we’re seeing two different writing styles.. What if that symbol isn’t meant to be ‘reinforce’?”</span>Lethe stared at the ceiling as her mind imagined the symbol the squad was talking about.<span style="color: silver">“If you ignore what it should mean and look at the symbol as an image, doesn’t it look like the sun is being boxed in to only shine down?”</span><br/><br/>Silence descended on the group as they stared at the symbol in question.<br/><br/>“Or… normally the dashes are from top bottom, right?  If we were to go with the most messed up way of writing this symbol, what if the dashes are from bottom up?  Something pushing in on the sun?  As if..”<br/><span style="color: silver">“Containing the sun.  The most perverted way to write this symbol would be to build the barriers, place the sun inside, and then upward strokes on the dashes as if the light is being sucked in.”</span>Blue eyes opened tiredly.<span style="color: silver">“That’s not ‘reinforce.’  That’s meant to conceal the sun from seeing.  That also means our other interpretations of the symbols may be completely wrong, if they’re messing around with stroke orders and thus, apparently, intent.”</span><br/><br/>Another silence fell upon the group as each imagined the countless ways the three symbols could be written.<br/><br/>“Well, at least they can’t all be written in ramshackle order.  It would throw the box into too much taint for it to be undetected.”  YunQiao offered, his tone clearly defeated.  What little progress they had made on the runes was questionable now.<br/><br/>“Well… at least that means my knowledge of carving hasn’t been completely ruined.  The dashes are definitely bottom up; the indent for the engraving is strongest at the top.”  Leon changed the topic to the box itself, reclaiming everyone’s attention.  “This box is made from elm, oak, or hackberry.  This color is really strong though, so I’d guess it’s been cured in some fashion.  While elm is most common on Tethel, it’s not impossible to find on Palaugrim or even some parts of Lindela.  Oak is everywhere and hackberry is Palaugrim specific, excluding the showcase trees here and there.  So… can’t really say much about the source, especially given it was cured.”<br/><br/>“Alright, I’m just wondering though.. I’m a kinda evil dude who’s dealing with shady Sinner stuff.  Sure I have the weird barrier/illusion thing going on but… I just leave this crap in my second icebox?  Really?  It’s not even hidden or anything.”<br/><br/>“It is.”<span style="color: silver">“There are protections on it.”</span>Leon and Lethe shared a glance, the former motioning the latter should speak first.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“There’s some sort of protection on it.  I didn’t really notice since it’s not emitting taint, but..”</span>The white-haired Knight lifted her hand, revealing ugly burns on her fingertips and palm.<span style="color: silver">“I thought it was just static shock and didn’t think anything of it until I saw the symbol on the boxes.”</span>She nodded at the box in front of them, Lillith’s symbol prominent on the cover.<br/><br/>“That’s why we used<span style="font-style: italic">Prayer</span>the second time.”  Leon muttered in understanding, earning himself a nod from Lethe.  Seeing the other wasn’t saying anything more, the newest squad member began his explanation.  “There aren’t any carvings on the wood itself, but I was still sensing something odd so I poked around and..”  He lifted a long strip of metal for all to see.  “The runes were etched onto the metal framing and then adhered to the rim of the box itself, runes inwards.  The protection is still there, just hidden from view and not as strong.  Although, I doubted the crafter thought it would be used to try to keep a Seraph like Captain out.”<br/><br/>“Okay.. Kinda evil dude, dealing with shady Sinner stuff, with a barrier/illusion, and a box of Sin crystals in my ice chest, hidden by some kinda strong protections and… Eight Pristine Knights in my house is a good idea because…?”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Because I used to run an Inn and surely everyone’s hungry and thirsty.  Here, drink some of this wine that I’ve laced with Laudanum.”</span>Lethe sighed, still upset at herself for almost getting her team trapped in this debacle.<span style="color: silver">“I saw a bottle of it in the lounge when I went to get more paper.”</span><br/><br/>“Okay… that’s pretty chancy but disgustingly well thought out.  No one saw you guys leave with those two.  Team Prissy was too busy with the kids and by the time we got back, poof! you guys are MIA.  And, conveniently, he’s expecting to transport this stuff in a week’s time.  Just need to keep you guys drugged for a week, out of Team Prissy’s sight--which with that barrier, wouldn’t be impossible--and bam! Instant Holy Knight squad gift wrapped for whoever’s dealing this stuff and probably a nice bonus.”<br/><br/>Lethe finally broke the silence that was looming over them by pushing her chair out, the legs scraping against the floor.<span style="color: silver">“Alright, sitting here in awe/disgust isn’t going to help us.  We need to get rid of these crystals.  There’s no way we can let these get passed on.”</span><br/><br/>“We’re tipping our hand early then.  If we could try following the movers in this operation and learn more.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“We can’t stay around for a week.  How are we going to convince Gil to spend half of our supposed trip here when he thinks nothing is going on?”</span><br/><br/>“We could tell him….”  Cricket’s tentative suggestion was immediately shot down by Lethe’s disgruntled face.  “Captain.. This could be important.  Is there.. a reason we’re keeping this from Master Guilford?”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“We’re also assuming that the movers and shakers will still appear even with <span style="font-style: italic">two contingents</span> of Holy Knights <span style="font-weight: bold">and</span> Master Guilford in the town.  They can’t be that stupid, not if Akito’s plan is any indication of the average intelligence of these people.”</span>She heaved another sigh, a common enough occurrence ever since she’d discovered the ice chest.<span style="color: silver">“We need to suppress these and then we can try to get people in place to watch this area.  Lesus’s closest contact is in Rayitas.  We went over all his contacts along the route and then a bit off but…”</span>She shook her head in frustration.<span style="color: silver">“If we want people here in time, we need to get to Rayitas or Rasova as soon as possible.  Otherwise, I think Mirajane and Elizabeth are in Lizbeth.”</span>She pulled the map over and pointed at another town, northwest between Rasova and Jenault.<span style="color: silver">“Unfortunately, it’s also not along the way Master Guilford had planned.”</span>All four squad members stared at the map as if it would suddenly reveal a path.<span style="color: silver">“Okay, enough wasting time.  We have three of these to get through.  I want to try to get two done tonight and have the last stabilized tomorrow morning before we move out.”</span><br/><br/>She turned her gaze to the box on the table.  It contained a Sin-filled crystal inside and the ice chest was hosting another two right now.  Somehow her squad had to stabilize three of them before they left tomorrow morning.  With how long it had taken her and Gil’s squad last time, even factoring in their exhaustion…<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Let’s go.”</span>She picked up the box, both amazed and disgusted that she could sense nothing even though she knew what was inside.<br/><br/>YunQiao went back to their captives and dosed them up with sleep magic again to ensure their unconsciousness for the task.  Given what he’d heard about District 8, they couldn’t risk any distractions during the purification.  Leon was clearing out some space and Lethe was chalking out a basic runic circle.  When the caster got back, he frowned at the symbol.  “Four is the number of death.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“And five has a greater chance of destabilization.  I can use my keys as another focus, but none of you can channel from another point.  There’s no way the four of us can make six.”</span><br/><br/>YunQia sighed but nodded in acceptance, taking his spot at the second point.  “Cricket, you’re next to me; Leon next to Captain.”  The other two Knights finished casting<span style="font-style: italic">Repent</span>to mask the initial wave of taint and then took their spots.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Remember, once it opens, we need to keep coaxing holy energy into it until it stabilizes.  Then we’ll put it in the jar,”</span>Lethe lifted the jar they were using as the container, ignoring YunQiao’s disgusted “I can’t believe we’re using a modified jam jar for this,”<span style="color: silver">“and seal it up.”</span>She got nods of understanding from everyone.<span style="color: silver">“Alright, here we go.”</span>She reached down and opened the box, her keys whirling into existence to lift the crystal up.  Four hands reached out to the crystal, ignoring the taint that reached out to them from behind the<span style="font-style: italic">Repent</span>cloud.  They stood there for over an hour, slowly pushing holy energy into the crystal.  They were going slower than Gil’s squad had done in Lindela at Lethe’s request.  Shattering the crystal wasn’t an option.  By the time Lethe felt comfortable easing the crystal into their makeshift container, Leon was swaying on his feet.  The white-haired Knight slipped the crystal into the jar and sealed it closed.  Cricket immediately dropped to the ground and Leon fainted, only Lethe’s keys keeping him from hitting his head on the ground.  YunQiao was looking shaky himself but he walked himself over to a chair and sat down in it.<br/><br/>“Oh my light… that was exhausting.”  “I didn’t think it would strain us so much..”<br/><br/>Lethe said nothing, only picking up a blanket to drape over the passed out Leon.  She hadn’t expected Leon to be so exhausted and was now wondering if they’d be able to match her plans.  She still wanted to cleanse one more tonight and finish the last one in the morning.  But if they were this tired already.. They couldn’t all be dead on their feet tomorrow.  It’d be too obvious something had happened.  Soft snoring caught her attention and she looked up to see Cricket sleeping as well.  That was… worrying.  Brynhildr and the others had done this at nearly empty and her team could only handle one?<br/><br/>“I believe the barrier is suppressing our magic.”  YunQiao spoke up softly.  “My magic wasn’t moving as smoothly as it normally does.  I felt like it took double the concentration to get it to work near the same level as when I’m exhausted.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“I hadn’t noticed… Do you think we can still finish all three of them in the timeframe?  We could go out of the barrier’s effects but then we run the risk someone will feel the taint.”</span><br/><br/>“You mean Master Guilford or his squad.”<br/><br/>Lethe remained silent in response.<br/><br/>“Is there a reason we’re not telling Master Guilford about this?”<br/><br/>The Seraph sighed and moved to lean against the window, her gaze focused on the outside.<span style="color: silver">“I don’t want him to lose this place.”</span>She confessed,<span style="color: silver">“You heard what Hyuga said, this place is special to Gil.  It’s his escape.”</span><br/><br/>“And wouldn’t he want to protect this place then?”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Yes, but then it becomes another obligation.  And that’s not the point of a haven.  We go to havens to escape our responsibilities, to put down our armor and relax and recover.  You saw how happy Gil looked when we got here.  If he knew that this place was tainted, he couldn’t be so carefree; he’d always wonder if there was something wrong.  If he needed to be on his guard.”</span>She finally looked away from the window and locked eyes with her squadmate.  The moonlight streaming in cast her face in shadows and her blue eyes appeared haunted as she smiled, in sorrow or regret, YunQiao thought in surprise.  The Captain could act childish or appear weary, but she rarely looked so… vulnerable?  It was a side of her she had never shown him, Cricket, or Leon and seeing how tired she looked, he felt bad for all the times he’d mentally criticized her for ‘inappropriate’ displays unbefitting of a Seraph.  For once, he wondered, what would it be like to have all of the Immaculate’s expectations and burdens placed upon him at the tender age of nineteen and to have carried it around for a decade, knowing that there was no end in sight.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“These havens that we can find in the world.. they’re something worth protecting.”</span>Her smile turned wistful as she looked back out the window and leaned against it.  Seemingly unconsciously, she started singing softly:<span style="color: silver">“Amazing Grace… how sweet the sound.”</span>His eyes started to droop and then he was asleep, his last memory that of his weary Captain bathed in moonlight.<br/><br/>The scuff of boots on wood broke the white-haired Knight from her reverie.  She turned to the sound and saw Deimos waiting there.<span style="color: silver">“No wonder you didn’t protest.”</span>A smile played on her lips as she pushed off the window sill to walk towards her provisions manager.<span style="color: silver">“And of course you’re so quiet, no one would notice you’re gone or think it odd you’re missing.  The others, of course, will have noticed and will be forced to stay since you slipped off.”</span>A ghost of a smile now played on Deimos’s lips as his Captain read his actions perfectly.  They’d been working together for four years now and he could confidently say that she and the other three veterans knew him the best.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“We’ve finished containing one of the crystals, but YunQiao says the barrier on this house is making our holy magic harder to use.  Please tell Adair, Seraphim, and Valiar I need them here tomorrow morning, a quarter before dawn.  We’ll suppress the last crystal then.  Can you take Leon’s place in the array?  We’ll give them all a few hours to rest and then finish the second one.”</span>Deimos nodded but didn’t move.<span style="color: silver">“Now, please.  In case you’re too tired after the sealing.  We can’t risk rushing the job and I don’t think YunQiao or Cricket can handle a third in such rapid succession.”</span>The Knight frowned but left.<br/><br/>Lethe looked over her unconscious Knights and smiled softly.  Unfortunately, there was only one blanket and she’d already given it away.  Instead, she padded her way to the kitchen to retrieve their papers and bring them back to the multi-use room.  It’d be easier to keep watch from the same room.<br/><br/>It seemed like only an instant before Deimos was back.  A glance at the clock confirmed it was half an hour until midnight.  Had it really been about four hours?  She tidied the papers and then stretched as Deimos roused Cricket and YunQiao.  She slipped into the kitchen to make coffee, handing the dark beverage out to her two teammates.  They waited fifteen minutes to ensure all were awake and mentally sound before getting into place once more.  This time it took an hour and twenty minutes to safely subdue the crystal.  Even with Deimos’s fresh magic replacing Leon’s, it couldn’t even out YunQiao’s and Cricket’s more exhausted stores.  The two sagged to the ground and were out cold the moment Lethe had finished sealing the second crystal.  Now that YunQiao had mentioned it, she too could feel the sluggish response of her magic.  Deimos placed a blanket on each of the passed out Knights and then turned to her.<br/><br/>She only quirked an eyebrow in response.  He stared at her.  She stared back.  His lips twitched down and her eyebrow rose higher.  His brows furrowed and she shook her head in response.<span style="color: silver">“I’m standing watch, Deimos.”</span><br/><br/>“You’ve suppressed two crystals already and you’ll be in the third stabilization as well.  Plus you plan to keep the crystals on you after, don’t you?”<br/><br/>Lethe nodded in response as she settled back into her chair and unravelled the map Cricket had been poring over.<br/><br/>“You’ll be exhausted.  Master Guilford was too weak to heal five cadets after suppressing one for two weeks.. With three of them…”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Assuming three suppressions in such short order leaves me near his levels when he started suppressing.. yes, we’re looking about four days before I collapse.”</span>Lethe concurred blandly.<br/><br/>“Assuming you don’t use any other magic in between.  Unlikely given how Master Guilford will be rushing us about since he thinks we only have two weeks.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Oh right, we still haven’t told him that yet have we…”</span><br/><br/>“Captain.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Four days… death’s days…”</span>Her attention seemed to have wandered as she looked at something beyond his sight.  An indiscernible emotion played on her lips and then she looked at him.<span style="color: silver">“Most of my focus will be on suppressing these crystals.  Cricket and YunQiao will be tired from the dual suppressions through this… inhibitor.  Leon is still new.  He’s done very admirably today, but he might be a bit out of it tomorrow too.  I need to be able to trust you and the others.  You won’t be taking part in tomorrow morning’s sealing, so you will be the freshest.  Deimos, <span style="font-style: italic">get some rest</span>.  I need to know you can protect the others tomorrow.”</span><br/><br/>The Knight wavered but finally acquiesced angrily.  He couldn’t argue with her when her mind was already made up and he was just wasting both of their time.  All he could do was do as she commanded to the best of his ability.  Tomorrow, no one would injure his squad.  He wouldn’t let them.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/><br/>Seraphim laughed at the silliness in front of her but joined in the dance.  It was a folksy dance she’d seen before she became a Knight, not at all like the stiff dances she’d been forced to take part in during some of Lethe’s public appearances.  It was nice to take a night off from the seriousness of being a Pristine Knight and if she was lost in movement, her mind didn’t have time to worry about her Captain and her squadmates.<br/><br/>She caught sight of Valiar laughing with some of the townspeople, only the stiffness around his eyes a sign of his worry.  She didn’t even bother looking at Adair, knowing<span style="font-style: italic">he</span>would appear completely fine.  Everyone though Adair a respectable, responsible man and he<span style="font-style: italic">was</span>; it’s just that’s not all he was.  After all, he’d grown up with Grisia, Lesus, and Roland.  There was definitely more behind his polite facade.  If she didn’t know how devoted he was to the Captain, she’d honestly be worried.  Her smile wavered at the thought of her younger, white haired ‘sister’ and she forced the wobble away.  Team Blonde could be in the running for the best squad at deception out there with how often they’d had to parade about.  Who knew all of the High Council’s posturing had been good for something?  They may not be as ‘strong’ as Team Prissy (a rumor she fiercely objected to), but they were Lethe’s team for a reason.<br/><br/>One of the townsmen grabbed her into a whirl and she spun around with a laugh before slipping out of his hands.  Another set of hands grabbed her, too tight for her to escape.  She turned laughing, cold purple eyes on the grabby male only to meet pleasant yellow eyes.  The man, garbed like a townsman, leaned in with a flirtatious smile.  “Tomorrow morning, fifteen before dawn, see you at the house.  Tell Marcus.”  She took his hands in hers and danced a few moves before letting him go when she bumped into another body.<br/><br/>“Sorry!”  She laughed again, wondering when she’d gotten so good at faking the sound.  She twirled and then plopped into a seat next to Valiar with an exhausted “whewth!”  “Give me your drink, you big lug!”  She demanded with another laugh, stretching over his body provocatively as she reached for the drink in his outstretched hand.  As she leaned past his head, she passed Deimos’s message along, knowing the other Knight had heard when he passed his drink to her.  She took a long draw from the cup and laughed again, already counting down the hours.  Eight more hours till she could see her squad again.