[[Day 8 in Palaugrim (Afternoon) :: Alera ]]<br/>Raucus grunted irritably at the tentative knock on his door.  He had made it very clear he shouldn’t be interrupted unless the sky was falling down and from his glance out the window, that wasn’t the case.<br/><br/>“What is it?!”  He had been working with his staff for so long, they’d know it wasn’t them who had earned his ire.  It meant he didn’t have to play nice when he was irritable, like he was right now.<br/><br/>“Excuse me, Sir.  A.. ‘Retired Knight Abel d’Arques, previous Captain of the disbanded 7th Pristine Knight Squadron,’ is here.  He claims that Master Guilford ordered him here.”<br/><br/>Raucus grunted again.  Well, it certainly poured when it decided to rain: two former Knight Captains in one day.  Wasn’t he lucky?  And another order from the Seraphs up above in addition to the news about Santa Olivia.  This was shaping up to be a terrific week.  “Bring him here.” He ordered, turning back to the reports in front of him.  With his reduced forces, he needed to re-create the patrol routines.<br/><br/>Another knock broke his thoughts and he looked up to see Abel in his doorway.<br/><br/>“Abel, what a pleasure to see you.”  Despite the gruff tone, welcome was audible in his words.  Raucus was happy to see his former comrade again, he just dreaded whatever words would come from the other man’s mouth.  For the High Council to be recalling former Knights… “What brings you to my neck of the world?”<br/><br/>“Raucus.”  Abel strode forward to exchange handgrips and pleasantries with the fellow veteran.  However, small talk was quickly superseded by the looming task in the air.  “I’ve come in search of Master Lethe.  I have reason to believe she was here last.”<br/><br/>“Master Lethe?”  The Knight Commander of Alera frowned, “She has not passed through here.  I would have thought she was leading the<span style="font-style: italic">Liberation</span>campaign with Master Guilford?”<br/><br/>“Unfortunately, no.  She, ah, was on a reconnaissance mission here in Palaugrim when Liberation started.”  The sideways glance Raucus gave Abel told the retired Knight exactly what he thought of that statement.<br/><br/>“The timing is most unusual.  If she really had been here, I’d assume she would have appeared immediately once she knew—”  Raucus trailed off and then looked at his former comrade.  “Is she aware—?”<br/><br/>“Liberation started after she went… silent.”  Oh my light.  There was a war going on between the Light and Sin and one of the Seraphs was traipsing around Palaugrim none the wiser.  If that wasn’t enough, her last known location had been<span style="font-style: italic">his</span>city, meaning the High Council would expect him to be responsible if something happened.  His sigh didn’t seem to make the situation any better.  He rubbed his temples wearily, wondering why he’d even bothered getting out of bed this morning.  He was getting too old for this crap; clearly QianHua had the right—QianHua.  Raucus suddenly straightened up from his slump, pieces starting to tumble into place.<br/><br/>Abel had been watching the other man carefully and Raucus’s most recent actions weren’t hard to decipher.  “You know something?<br/><br/>Wary brown eyes stared into his and Abel wondered what had put that guarded look into the Knight Commander’s eyes.  “I may know something.”  Raucus hedged, “But I will need something from you in return.”  Seeing the growing fury in Abel’s eyes, Raucus hurried to continue speaking, “This isn’t to extort you!”  He scoffed and nodded to his gimped leg, “I’m just some stumpy old man.  I have no aspirations for greatness beyond doing my duty and keeping my city safe.”  He stood up with a groan and walked to his window that overlooked the massive trading city.  He felt Abel join him at his side.<br/><br/>“On normal days, I can just barely maintain sufficient Knight presence.  Heinrich has been keeping his men close so I’ve had to extend our patrols into his ‘territories’ as well.  With the troops I sent for Master Guilford’s Liberation campaign, I am even further short-manned.  Thankfully for me, we have some retired Knights here who are willing to patrol their town in exchange for my silence.  You’re evidence enough: the High Council will snap up every available body for this fight against Sin.  They deserve to enjoy their retirement peacefully if they don’t want to re-join the Pristine Knights.  Even if they continue to refuse the High Council, they will constantly have people hounding them.  They don’t deserve that.  No ex-Knight deserves that.<br/><br/>If I tell you about them, and I’m sure they know where Master Lethe is, then I will have broken my side of the truce.  They may decide not to help patrol their town anymore or may not assist here if any get wounded.”  He shook his head wearily, “Though it may sound selfish, I cannot fault them if they do so.  All they want is a peaceful retirement.  You’re obedient enough that if the High Council should ask, I presume you would answer truthfully.  I’m lucky they’ve paid me little regard so far and have never asked.”  Both men lapsed into silence, each mulling their own thoughts.<br/><br/>“I can ask Master Guilford about getting more troops here, but we also need the men for the fight ahead.”<br/><br/>“What’s the use of fighting the foe in front if the civilians left behind are killed?”<br/><br/>A pause, and then Abel continued as if Raucus had said nothing: “I will ask for more troops for you, at least until we secure this area.  But I expect these retired Knights to be very useful.”<br/><br/>After an indeterminate time, Raucus walked back to his desk and wrote something out on a spare piece of paper.  He folded it and held it out for his visitor to take.  “Ex-Captain QianHua of the Pure Magic Squadron” He ignored the surprised inhale from Abel, “lives in Fleur Terres with two of her former squadmates: Ensei and Seien.  They run an orphanage there.”  He fixed a hard brown gaze on his former comrade.  “I’m sure you understand my reluctance now to share this with you.  Even if they don’t take up weapons, Ensei and Seien would be great assets for the defense of Alera.”<br/><br/>Abel accepted the piece of paper with a nod of thanks.  “I will try my best to convince Master Guilford to send some troops forward.”<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>Abel checked the address on the paper Raucus had given him and the house in front of him.  It was definitely the right place.  With a headshake of disbelief, he walked up to the door and knocked.  QianHua had retired to be an<span style="font-style: italic">orphanage</span>matron?  Would odder things ever happen?  A cold face, one that he was familiar with despite the decade it had been since he’d last seen her, greeted him at the door.  Stern grey eyes scanned his form and the area behind him before QianHua shifted her weight to block the gap between the doorframe and the door.<br/><br/>“I’m guessing Raucus sent you.  Yes, Abel?”<br/><br/>She did not seem happy to see him, probably with good reason if what Raucus said was true.  “QianHua, it’s been a long time.”  Silence.  He tried a touch desperately: “I hadn’t realized we’d parted on such bad terms.”  Before the War on Sin, in general, he had been stronger than the woman currently impeding his path.  However, he was standing on her front stoop which she may have very well trapped and he had an inking it was close to the third week of the month.  Plus it had been ten years and it was hard to gauge how well each had kept in shape.  He had no wish to start a fight.  Thankfully, QianHua’s huff sounded amused rather than annoyed.<br/><br/>“We hadn’t, it’s what you represent I’m unhappy with.  What does the High Council want from us now?”<br/><br/>“I’m not here for the High Council.  Well, not exactly.  I’m here in search of Master Lethe.”  QianHua’s gaze sharpened and he knew she knew something.  He could also see her starting to transform into her ‘protective older sister’ mode.  Lethe had definitely stopped by here then.  Whatever else might have been said was interrupted by a childish voice behind QianHua.<br/><br/>“HwaHwa,”  A young girl with ponytails sucked on her thumb nervously when both ‘HwaHwa’ and some unknown old man stared at her.  “Ensy says it’s dinner time.”  QianHua turned to look at the ex-Knight on her doorstep, sighed in resignation, and walked away from the door, leaving it open.  Abel accurately took it as an invitation in and closed the door behind him.  The former ex-Captain had lifted the young girl onto her hip and was leading the way deeper into the house.  They finally stopped by what looked like a dining room.  Countless eyes turned to stare at the stranger curiously and Abel felt himself freeze.  So many children…  One of the twins, he could never tell them apart, hurried up and took the complacent child from the purple-haired woman.  Purple eyes blinked at him curiously but the woman said nothing.<br/><br/>“Everyone, I’m afraid I will have to take dinner in my office.”  There was a collective groan from the children, “I’ll see you all at bedtime.”  QianHua turned and walked off once more, leaving Abel to trail after her.  They entered an office of some sort and once the door closed, wards flared into place.  The ex-Captain took a seat in one of the armchairs, crossed her arms and legs, and stared at her former comrade expectantly, “Well?”<br/><br/>“As I said earlier, I’m here in search of Master Lethe.”<br/><br/>“Isn’t she with the Liberation campaign?”<br/><br/>“Don’t play coy, QianHua.  We both know she’s not there and that she came through here.  Where is she?”  The two exchanged hard stares, both unwilling to back down.  Abel finally looked away angrily; he had more to lose than the Pure Magic Squadron leader in a contest of stubbornness.  “QianHua.. I’m just trying to keep them safe.  Can’t you tell me where she is?”<br/><br/>“Why should I?”  The apparent apathy had Abel’s head shooting up to gape at the other ex-Commander.  “Tell me Abel, why should I tell you where she is?”<br/><br/>“She—she’s caught in the middle of a war and she doesn’t know it.  She should be aware of that!”<br/><br/>“And why is she in the middle of a war?”  QianHua lifted her head further, staring down her nose at him.  “Tell me, Abel, since you have the ear of the High Council.  Why have they finally decided to go to war to Palaugrim<span style="font-style: italic">now</span>?  They did nothing when Victorie first took the Mayorship.  They did nothing when the Sin territories declared themselves Sovereign.  What has changed their mind so decidedly now?”<br/><br/>Abel sighed uncomfortably, “I’m sure you already know.  Master Guilford insisted on the campaign.”<br/><br/>“Yes, right after his little girlfriend died.”  The words were acerbic, “So all of Palaugrim will be caught in a pointless war because he can’t control his grief.  Foolish man, and foolish Cornelius for giving him such leeway.”  QianHua slammed to her feet and stormed her way to her desk where her sword rested from this morning.  “Countless innocents will die, already have died!, because of a temper tantrum!”<br/><br/>“The people deserve to be freed from Sin!”<br/><br/>“Freed from Sin or freed from this mortal world?  Santa Olivia has fallen!  It’s nothing more than a mass graveyard now!”  The gasp of surprise told her Abel hadn’t known that, “a firing squad on the defenseless, corpses hanging from the walls again.  The War against Sin is returning, with all its macabre glory!  This is what you wanted?”  The room was silent.  QianHua’s outburst had sucked all other words away.<br/><br/>“I want to keep Lethe and Guilford safe.  I’m just an old Knight who wants to keep the few subordinates I have left alive.”  The sorrow, the defeat, in Abel’s voice pierced QianHua’s fury more than angry words could have.  “I should have done them better, should have given them more guidance, helped them out more.  Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if I had.”  Abel confessed sadly.<br/><br/>QinaHua closed her eyes in grief.  It was the burden of all commanders, to always be thinking of their subordinates’ well beings, both current and former.  Most of her anger was from the danger this war now put her children and her former squad mates, many scattered over all four islands, in.  It was inevitable that in war, innocents were trampled.<br/><br/>“I should have stolen her from you all those years ago.”  The soft words were bitter.  “I should have never let her stay with you.  She’d never be stuck in this position if not for you and that boy.  She’d be free to enjoy her life rather than being chained to the High Council by that ridiculous Seraph title.”  Grey eyes opened once more, “I should have never left her to you.”<br/><br/>Abel flinched at the words but QianHua didn’t care.  “Lethe came here a few days ago seeking assistance.  She’s headed for Luciano as fast as she can, in search of the source of these Sin Crystals.  Kanna is with her.  They were last in Santa Olivia, headed for Puerta Ciel, though I doubt they’ll stay there long.  Beyond that, I have no idea.”<br/><br/>When no more words came, Abel reluctantly got to his feet.  He stared at his former comrade who was now gliding her fingers along the sheath of her katana.  War was coming to Fleur Terres and he knew she was mourning the last moments of peace.  “I’ll keep her safe.”  Was all he said before he turned to walk out of the room.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/>[[Day 8 in Palaugrim (Dusk) :: Bastille ]]<br/><br/>Captain Kavita looked over her city with a frown.  It was hard to be a young woman in charge of a city in Palaugrim.  The taint of Sin was too prevalent in this land and it made her Knights rowdier than the cadets she’d trained with in Gless.  Rowdy Knights sometimes let the wrong head do the talking and she had to rule the city with an iron fist.  ‘Ice Bitch Kavita’ some of them called her when they thought her absent.  Very well, she’d be an ‘ice bitch’ if it meant she did her job well and kept her city safe.  She didn’t need their esteem anyways, just their obedience.<br/><br/>A commotion drew her eyes down to the courtyard below her.  Late last night, a group of villagers had appeared at Bastille’s gates begging for sanctuary.  The tale they told both chilled her and angered her.  The blatant ransacking of a village, in the middle of the day no less, was unusual for Sinners.  The armor her scouts had brought back implied the armored men the villagers spoke of were members of the ‘Sovereign Palaugrimian forces.’   What was that blasted Mayor thinking?  Surely Victorie hadn’t been so stupid as to think her men would get out undetected.  Her other point of contention was that Seraph Lethe had passed through her city without her knowledge.  The fact such a well known figure had entered and left implied her gatekeepers weren’t doing their jobs properly.  More personally, she was privately upset the famous Knight hadn’t stopped by to greet her.  Had it been a deliberate snub?  Her hand tightened on her fan in frustration.  She had mixed feelings about the female Seraph.  One on hand, she admired the other woman for all she had accomplished.  On another, she was jealous the other woman commanded such esteem when she had to fight for every scrap of regard.<br/><br/>The door behind her opened loudly, drawing her attention away from the setting sun.  Cold blue eyes stared at her.  Her ‘Vice Captain.’  He hadn’t been happy when she’d been chosen to lead Bastille instead of himself.  However, what the Seraphs declared were sacrosanct and so she’d been named Commander of Bastille.  The reminder sent a smirk to her face and she was rewarded by his narrowing of the eyes.<br/><br/>“Vice Captain Bendan.  What do you need?”<br/><br/>“I have finished making the selection of which troops will join Master Guilford’s Liberation campaign.  There has been no word from Santa Olivia yet.”  She loved how he avoided saying her title whenever possible.  Nonetheless, she accepted the listing of recommended troops he had put together.  She hadn’t asked him for it and no doubt most of the troops to go would be those most loyal to her.  Unfortunately for him, he needed her approval on such orders.  She was just about to dismiss him when the flapping of wings caught her attention.  Kavita turned to catch the pigeon, surprised to see it glowing with holy magic.  Someone had empowered it to keep it safe and keep it flying as fast as it could.  That was never a good sign.<br/><br/>She dumped the pigeon in Bendan’s hands; if he wanted to read over her shoulder (which he undoubtedly did), he could hold the pesky thing.  (Carrier pigeons may be useful but they were still annoying.)  The missive was unexpectedly from Knight Commander Raucus of Alera rather than Santa Olivia’s leader as she had been expecting.  She cracked the seal open and began reading immediately, feeling herself grow grim at the words.  Santa Olivia had been destroyed?  A sharp inhale beside her told her Bendan had also just read the news.  Reaching the end, she snapped it closed, ignoring Bendan’s grunt of disapproval.  He hadn’t finished reading it.<br/><br/>“Double the watches.  Increase the patrols.  Close all the gates, including the main ones.  Send scouts to every village to warn them.  Tell them they must avoid all battle; information gathering is paramount.  The borders are undoubtedly shifting with Santa Olivia’s fall.”  She snapped out the orders even as she stormed her way down the stairs to her office.  “Get me all the Captains immediately.”  She turned to glare at the other Knight, enunciating clearly so he could claim ignorance later, “<span style="font-style: italic">every single one.</span>”  Catching sight of one her aides, Kavita raised her voice, “Get me every map we have of the area between us and Luciano! Now!”<br/><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/>[[Day 9 in Palaugrim :: Puerta Ciel ]]<br/><br/>Cricket looked around him curiously, wondering why they were here.  He’d never heard of Puerta Ciel before and it wasn’t on any of the maps YunQiao carried.  However, Kanna had led them straight here after Santa Olivia.  He frowned at the marble building the brunette had disappeared into.  He wasn’t sure what he felt about the ex-Knight.  She was an amicable enough person, but how could he have confidence in someone who had turned away from the Light?  The memory of Santa Olivia flashed in his mind.  Or maybe he could understand.  If those scenes had been common before the fall of Sin, he could understand why some may have put down the armor afterwards.  He swallowed down his nausea, mentally blocking the image of Konan from his mind.  It was all too easy to superimpose the images of his loved ones over the crumpled bodies scattered throughout the fallen City.  His respect for Valiar, Master Guilford, and Captain increased.  It must have taken a lot of will to keep fighting even after battlefields like that.<br/><br/>His gaze drifted to the white-haired Knight.  Her face was covered by her hood but her body was perfectly erect.  He knew for a fact that she hadn’t slept well and had seen her sneaking on makeup in the morning.  However, her posture revealed none of her exhaustion.<span style="font-style: italic">”Control yourself.”</span>The Captain was certainly doing that, unnaturally so.  He hadn’t seen her shed a tear ever since the confrontation with Kanna, not even at Santa Olivia.  That was unlike her.  Or was it?  It was hard to predict reactions when confronted with new situations.<br/><br/>His musing was broken when the door to the marble building opened and three women walked out, one their errant tag-along.  All three women carried themselves with unnatural poise: they were either nobles or had training in martial arts.  Given what he knew of Kanna, the latter was more likely.  The brunette in question lifted her arms in a stretch and them let them drop, crossed, behind her head: her signal for them to follow.  Captain was already heading after the three women, so Cricket detached himself from the wall and followed as well.<br/><br/>The group congregated in the shadows of a ruined house.  Once they’d left the gentrified area, the town had increasingly become filled with rubble and half demolished buildings.  It looked like the aftermath of a battle that had never been cleaned up.  Surprisingly, Deimos spoke up first.<br/><br/>“Where are we?”<br/><br/>“Puerta Ciel.”  At the unimpressed look she was receiving from the blond Knight, Kanna shrugged and elaborated further.  “It used to be known as Q’wabe before the war.  This city was the site for a major battle and…” The sweep of her arm explained everything, “this is what’s left.  The natives came back after the war but it’s never gained the same prominence anymore.  Most importantly for us though, this place has Mei and Ethera.”  She dropped a hand on one of the woman’s shoulder but conspicuously didn’t touch the other one.  “Both of them are ex-members of the Pure Magic Squadron; Mei was our support caster and Ethera was our vice captain.”<br/><br/>Mei waved a hand shyly but said nothing.  Ethera just stared at them blankly.  It seemed that appearing apathetic  was also a requirement for the Pure Magic Squadron.  Of the six members they had met so far, only Kanna appeared talkative.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“While I’m happy to see them well, is there a reason we detoured here?”</span>Lethe finally spoke up, her voice oddly monotonous.  Her reaction to these two women was markedly different from her reaction to the three in Fleur Terres.  Kanna just laughed awkwardly, one finger scratching her face sheepishly.  The brunette couldn’t say she’d brought them here to give Lethe a break from the world.  Although Puerta Ciel was a medium sized town, it was fairly isolated given its location and the rumors around it.  It seemed few newcomers wanted to try living in a place whose largest attractions were the ruins of the previous city and the unmarked graveyard for the Pristine Knights who had fallen in battle here.  After this town had been pulled back and forth between the Sin-controlled and Knight-controlled boundaries numerous times, the townspeople had decided to unmark anything that would suggest allegiance to one side or another.  It even had two names: Puerta Ciel for the Light-side and Tobago for the Sin-side.<br/><br/>Lethe only closed her eyes in disbelief.  They were wasting time.  She needed to get to Luciano as soon as possible.  (The wall of corpses loomed in her mind accusingly.)  Instead, they were here to visit two ex-members of the Squad.  She liked them, of course, but—(bodies toppled backwards, arrows protruding from their heads).  She felt a scream well up from deep inside of her.  No.  She pushed down on that urge, using the same control she’d honed from denying her past. No.  She had to stay in control.  Her eyes snapped back open but there was still no emotion in them.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Mei. Ethera.  I apologize for disturbing you two.  We will be heading off now.”</span>Ethera simply nodded in response, turning to lead the way out.  Kanna watched in disbelief as everyone trickled out.  They had just gotten here!  She’d<span style="font-style: italic">told</span>Mei and Ethera what had happened and how Lethe needed a break and now Ethera was undoing all of her hard work?!  Light damn it all, the other brunette had always been too obedient.  She stormed after the group angrily, opening her mouth to yell when a sudden chill swept down her back.  What was that?!<br/><br/>She spun around in time to see another cloaked person rounding one of the corners.  “Hey! Wait!”  Her shout caught everyone’s attention and black, iriseless eyes stared at her.  She could feel the horror taking over her face.  Her mouth opened for another shout but the demon seemed to foresee what was happening.  His hand whipped out and threw something on the ground.  He dashed off immediately afterwards.  Miasmas of Sin appeared, condensing into monstrous forms.  The Knights she’d been accompanying dashed in front of her to form a defensive line.<br/><br/>“The town!”  Seraphim cried, drawing their attention to the town behind them.  The cloaked figure was dashing along the ruins towards Puerta Ciel, Sin entities appearing in his wake.<br/><br/>“That was Raim!”  Kanna snarled, runes appearing immediately around her.  The demon, known as the second strongest of Sin’s generals, had killed some former Pure Magic Squadron members after they’d moved onto other teams.  The squad had tried hard to encounter him when they’d been deployed, to no success.<br/><br/>“I don’t think—” YunQiao’s warning was cut off by the sudden appearance of a bow and arrow.<br/><br/>“Mei has a sealing circle we can use in the graveyard.”  Ethera spoke up unexpectedly as she strung her bow.  “It’ll need about forty minutes to prep to seal Raim.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “I can slay him.”</span>Lethe contributed, equally unexpectedly.  Her sword was in her hand, flaring with holy magic.<br/><br/>“Twenty five then.”<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver"> “YunQiao, you’re with Mei.  Protect her and lend her your holy magic.  Adair, give me your Faith.  You lead the others in taking out the Sin entities and protecting the townspeople.”</span>Lethe tossed her Faith and Adair’s to Kanna and Mei respectively.  Seraphim cracked her knuckles, clearly eager for the fight.  “I’ll go with Captain” she volunteered before anyone else could say anything.<br/><br/>Valiar looked between the determined females and the path Raim was cutting through the town.  On one hand, this<span style="font-style: italic">was</span>a Seraph they were talking about.  On the other, that was<span style="font-style: italic">Raim</span>they were dealing with.  It had been ten years since Mei and Kanna had taken up fighting and they had little protection against Sin’s taint; if they were to fall into Sin, Lethe and Seraphim would be outnumbered three to two.<br/><br/>As if sensing his unease, a sinister smile crept up all five women’s face simultaneously.  “Don’t worry.”  Kanna started, her words finished by Mei’s monotone: “it’s the third week of the month.”<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/>Kanna laughed as she swung her fist at the pink-haired Demon.  She was going to rip him into<span style="font-style: italic">shreds</span>!  He dodged out of the way and then dodged again at Seraphim’s uppercut.  A whip of fire barreled down on them but was knocked aside by the sudden appearance of a key blade.  It leveled its tip at the demon, a bead of white light growing in preparation for an attack.  Raim snarled and hit the weapon, sending the blast of Banish wide.  It cut through one of the random Sin entities instead before the keyblade righted itself.  The Faith she was wearing warmed at the incoming barrage of holy light so Kanna obligingly ducked out of the way.  Raim apparently had the same idea and the two met eye to eye.  She lashed out with her claws but he was faster.  Claws grabbed her face and swung her about.  She felt her legs collide with another body and then she was flying for a wall.  An arrow crossed her vision and she fell into a safety net of magic.  She slipped out of the net and to the ground, gathering her magic into her fists once more.<br/><br/>Lethe had now engaged Raim in close combat since Kanna and Seraphim were temporarily out of commission.  Her blade tangled with his fire whip, both trying to destroy one another.  A surge of holy magic had the whip falling in pieces around her and she immediately closed in on the demon.  He jumped back, materializing a blade of Sin from somewhere.  The two weapons clashed, light and dark strained against each other for dominance.  Equally emotionless eyes stared into one another: blue meeting black and then both disengaged and reengaged equally quickly.  Raim took the offensive first, but his strikes were all parried by Lethe’s blade.  Even his attempt to sneak his chain around her was thwarted by her keyblades.  However, Lethe met equal futility when she attacked him.  All of her attacks were blocked or evaded.  Even facing a Seraph, Raim was a tough opponent; he had earned his infamy with good reason.  The two suddenly both leapt away and a figure came hurtling out of the sky, cracking the ground with the force of her drop kick.  It looked like Seraphim was back on her feet.  While in the air, Raim made a ‘pulling’ motion with his arm.  From the ground seeped the taint of Sin.  Images of Sinners took form, the miasma of the dropped Sin crystals granting them form.  They all turned their attention to the Knight in their midst and dog-piled her despite her struggles.  Lethe was busy engaging Raim in a proxy battle, her keyblades and his whip snapping against one another.  Though the former could cut the latter, the latter kept reforming itself with ease.  Kanna joined the brawl on the ground, ignoring the burn of her temporary Faith as it protested the presence of so much Sin.  However, her attacks slipped right though the Sinners with no effect while their claws had no problem striking her flesh.  With a scream of rage, she grabbed her ally and ran out of the mob.<br/><br/>“LETHE!”  Her shout pulled the Seraph’s attention downwards and the break in concentration let the whip slip past her keyblades.  It aimed for her heart but crashed against a barrier.  An arrow hung in front of the startled Knight before it fell to the ground, momentum lost.  A volley of arrows flew by the now descending Knight to keep the demon engaged.<br/><br/>“Take this and take them.  I can’t hit them!”  Kanna shoved the injured Seraphim towards the younger woman and ran towards Raim.  Her elemental magic still seemed to work on him.  Lightning crackled around her claws as she slid her way around Ethera’s barrage and engaged in close quarters once more.<br/><br/>Another shockwave of Repent gained Lethe some breathing space as she cast a full powered Healing on Seraphim.  Her keyblades took up their now normal defensive attacks in a halo around her but were unable to strike anything.  Like with Kanna, they slipped through the Sinners with little effect.  A frown had them back at her side, half forming a barrier of Repent around Seraphim and the other half on her back.  She’d just have to take care of these Sinners personally then.  Pouring holy magic into her main sword, Lethe rushed through the phantoms with ease.  It was only a minute later and they dissipated into white dust.  Seraphim was back on her feet by then, charging her fists with Banish.<br/><br/>A storm of white light fell from the sky like a meteor shower, piercing all the taint it came in contact with. Raim’s flesh sizzled in the areas he was struck; the wounds were a testament to the sheer number of bolts rather than the demon’s evasion ability for he still dodged many of them and Kanna’s continued strikes.  Just as the lights were dying out, a blue glowing arrow sliced the demon’s arm.  Besides the line of broken flesh, it appeared to have done nothing.  Seraphim rejoined the fight, forcing Raim to dodge backwards again.  All three women continued their assault, driving him further and further away.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/><br/>YunQiao followed the black-haired woman through the town, dodging Sin creatures and townspeople alike.  Mei appeared to know where she was going, weaving through back alleys until they reached an open plot of land.  Only the fence around it and the marble table in the center of the park implied it might be somehow unusual.  The ex-Knight skidded to a halt and clapped her hands together.  Magic gathered around her hands before she touched the ground.  Under her fingers, two lines of magic sped away from each other.  The lines each touched a stone, setting it ablaze, and then continued forth until they met at the other side to form a perfect circle.  Each stone, anchors points he now realized, were already etched with one of the four major elements.  Lines raced and script appeared, creating the basics of a runic circle.  The woman got to her feet, ran to the table, and pulled out four fist-sized stones.  She carried them back, jumped into the circle, and placed them in a square shape.  They too had been pre-inscribed with runes, though they carried the four sub-elements.  Critical blue eyes looked over the stones’ placement and the woman now running between the eight anchor points.  The minor anchors were in a perfect square and she hadn’t even seemed to stop to measure: the work of a true practitioner.<br/><br/>Lines of magic glowed in the wake of her finger, creating a complicated four major/four minor rune set that seemed focused on trapping whoever walked into it.  She jumped back outside the circle and placed her palms on the circle once more, forcing it into permanence.  The weight of a stare on his face made YunQiao look away from his study of the circle.<br/><br/>“Imbue your Judgment and Faith with as much holy magic as they can hold.  I’ll need them for the other anchor points.”  Mei ordered before turning her attention to the closest major anchor.  To hold someone as powerful as a demon, she’d need to boost the strength of the elements.  Pulling out one of her knives, she started carving the amplifying circles around the anchor.  The outer circle to maintain the boundaries, two circles for the excess power to circulate…  Finished with the first, she moved on to the second anchor stone.<br/><br/>YunQiao stared at the ex-Knight in disbelief but was shaken from her stupor by the flare of magic as the first anchor point was set.  Lights above, she was fast.  Twenty five minutes?  With what the two women had said, he’d thought the circle was already inscribed somewhere, not that she was making it from scratch with only anchor points prepared!  He took off his Faith first, just in case they still needed his sword.  Forcing holy magic into the amulet was easy: it was meant to contain large quantities of holy magic.  A hand suddenly appeared in his face, palm up in clear demand for something.  He blinked vision back into his eyes and handed over the now shining cross necklace for the impatient woman.  He received only a thoughtful “hmm” for his efforts before she had it tied around another knife in the ground.  It was a pity he couldn’t watch her seal any further as he still needed to imbue his Judgment.  The sword was less willing to accept excessive quantities of holy magic.  While it could definitely hold some, it just wasn’t meant to be used as a storage container.  The entire thing glowed softly, its only indication it was overly filled with magic.<br/><br/>Mei took the sword from his hands as well and placed it on the other side of the circle.  Her knife carved out the second set of lines and characters to complete the prison.  However unlike before, the periphery seal wasn’t glowing with light.<br/><br/>“I need you to fill it with holy magic.  Since we’re specifically capturing a demon of Raim’s potency, we need as much holy magic as possible. ” Mei wasn’t used to speaking so much, but there wasn’t much choice.  She knew nothing about this Knight except he didn’t recognize her and Lethe had ordered him with her.  Her magic stores were already drained from what she had crafted so far and the years away from active battle had diminished her holy magic reserves even further.  Thankfully, the Knight seemed obedient as he knelt on the ground and pushed his magic into the lines she had set out.  The entire runic diagram flashed once and then dulled.  It was finished.  She dragged the exhausted Knight to the table and crouched behind it just Lethe landed on the memorial table.<br/><br/>The Seraph pulled out the seals Ensei had given her and placed them on the four corners of the table.  Mei seemed to understand what they were for as she jumped onto the table and helped YunQiao on as well.  The former Pure Magic Squadron member reached out and activated the seals.  A barrier appeared around them.<br/><br/>“We, and any magic you gather, will be hidden from detection as long as the barrier is active.  Nothing can see in, but nothing can escape either.  I’ll drop the barrier once you’re ready.  The trap will activate the moment Raim passes over it.”<br/><br/>Lethe only nodded in response.  Holding her sword horizontally in front of her, she started gathering magic.<br/><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: silver">you who shines like gold upon the streams of life<br/>gather at my hands</span></span></div><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/>Another blue arrow whizzed past all three combatants and the two women increased their attacks.  They had successfully put Raim on the defensive and he kept moving backwards as they wanted.  Any time he strayed too far, arrows would shepherd him back in the right direction.  No doubt he realized he was being corralled somewhere, but he had no escape.  Any time he tried to leave, one of these three blasted women would force him back on this inevitable path.<br/><br/>Raim jumped over the rune-covered fence that the women had been shepherding him towards.  Surely that hadn’t been it?  The women seemed unable to cross the fence and the arrow aimed for him was halted by the gates as well.  He resisted the urge to laugh.  Hahaha, had that<span style="font-style: italic">really</span>been their plan?  They had put up a good fight, but he was free now as long as they were stuck on the other side.  Even the ‘Seraph’ had fled from him.  He felt more grudging respect for the two brawlers than the so called ‘Seraph’ who had stayed far behind and then forsaken them.  The demon dashed over the field, but his momentum was suddenly arrested.  His feet wouldn’t move.  A tangle of chains shot out from his sides and pinned him in place.  Looking down, he realized in horror that he was in a runic circle.  His panic quickly faded though when he noticed the runes used.  It wouldn’t keep him more than thirty seconds at most.  He’d be fine.  None of those women had the ability to kill him.  Whispered words in front of him caught his attention.  An unfamiliar emotion was born within him as his blood suddenly ran cold and an inexplicable shiver ran through his body.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: silver">together, let us walk as one along the path of Glory!<br/>by the powers of you and I combined! </span></span></div><br/><br/>Before his astonished eyes, the Seraph appeared from nowhere, standing atop a marble table.  Her sword had lost its shape and only the vague image of a blade, composed entirely of light, was visible given how large it was.  For the first time, he wondered if this is what the so-called ‘fear’ felt like.  Was this the light that had ended their great King’s existence?  The sword came crashing down and he knew no more.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/>Lethe panted with exertion, slowly dropping to one knee then the other.  After the last strike, all the divine magic had dissipated from her sword and its original shape was evident once more.  It slowly slid from her loosening grip and fell lightly to the ground.  It had been… much too long since she’d last used that attack. In a good way.  Calling pure divine magic was very chancy, so not having to do so meant that there were no threats that dire.  She slumped limply, feeling like a boneless mass of flesh right now.  At least Raim was gone now.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/>The men of Team Blonde all stared in awe at the five women far in front of them.  They had taken care of all the Sin entities and were about to regroup to help Lethe, Seraphim, and the others when they’d quickly noticed their help was not needed.  Seraphim and Kanna had gone toe to toe with Raim, the supposedly second strongest demon under the God of Sin, with little apparent difficulty.  Ethera had also successfully kept the demon on track.  They had been about to interfere when it appeared that Raim was about to escape but Valiar had stopped them.  And it was probably a good thing he had.  Though holy magic wouldn’t harm its followers, (1) whatever the Captain had been wielding didn’t<span style="font-style: italic">quite</span>look like holy magic and (2) having that much concentrated magic thrown in your face couldn’t be pleasant regardless of its affinity.<br/><br/>“I… I didn’t know Captain was that strong…” Leon muttered in shock.<br/>“It’s the third week of the month….” The eldest Knight moaned in anguish, still too awed at the display to go cowering in a corner like he desperately wished to.  The unusual response finally seemed to jolt Cricket into sense once more.<br/>“What?”<br/>“Women are scary…”  Eyes still stuck on the demon carnage in front of him, Valiar finally explained the horrifying truth: “Team PMS are infamous because they had<span style="font-style: italic">synced menstrual cycles</span>every third week!”