[[Day 3 of Month --2]]<br/>Deimos knocked on a familiar door.  He was back in Fleur Terres at Captain’s request.  The door creaked open and he turned to see irritated silver eyes staring at him.  Slowly, he lifted his hand to reveal the Faith in it but QianHua rolled her eyes and walked away from the door, leaving it open for him to slip in.  He followed the ex-Knight silently as they went up two flights of stairs and to a set of double doors in the back.  When he entered the room, seals flared to life.  QianHua had a hand out impatiently and he placed the message Lethe had given him in it.<br/><br/>"Take a seat while I read this."  He wandered over to the bookshelves instead, eyes glancing over the titles contained there.  There was a disgruntled sound from behind him but QianHua said nothing more as she read the letter.  Its contents prompted a frown from the purple-haired woman.  She had half expected the request once she'd heard about the other Seraph's death but still.. It was chancy business to be playing around with divine magic.  She knew her faith wasn't strong enough to channel divine magic safely so she'd never tried.  Although, she supposed that if anyone could do it with a modicum of success, it would be Lethe. Lights above knew how much that girl believed in the Divine Light.  Still though.. She opened her desk drawer and looked at its contents: a worn book and two jars with etchings all over them.  She wasn't comfortable just handing the diary over.  Most just laughed at the idea of the Sisterhood, but its roots could trace back to the Pure.  Unlike now, the Pure had had more success in wielding Light’s Blessing and one of them had recorded her tribulations with the finicky power source in the book currently residing in her drawer.  She could just give it to Deimos.  She wasn't a Knight anymore, had no intention of fighting in this upcoming war.  All she wanted was to take care of her children and tend to her garden.<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: silver">"Please Master QianHua.. you are still.."</span></span>The memory prompted an irritated frown from her.  Lights above, Lethe knew how to make someone feel guilty!<span style="color: silver"><span style="font-style: italic">"I trust you... with not only myself but my squad as well."</span></span>A heavy sigh had her dropping her head in resignation.  She couldn't.  Not yet.  She still had one more task as the leader of the Sisterhood.<br/><br/>Picking up the book and the two jars, she placed them both in the messenger bag lying against her desk.  She'd known the moment Deimos had shown up on her doorstep that she'd be leaving, hopefully for only a little bit.  Seiein and Ensei had already been prepped; she'd sent out her summons to Mei and Ethera.  She turned to look at the now curious Deimos, a scowl on her face.  "Well then, let's go."<br/><br/>The blonde Knight tilted his head in confusion, clearly not understanding.  "There's no way I'm letting her do this hare brained idea on her own.  Did you have any place else you needed to go?"  He held up a letter and she stalked over to read it.  "We'll send it via one of my eagles.  If that's okay?"  He said nothing for a moment but then shook his head.  Lethe had wanted him to speak with Rhett.  QianHua frowned.  She didn't want to waste any more time than she had to.  Deimos's head tilted to the other side before he seemed to remember something.  He lifted the Faith once more and revealed the seal on the back.  "That works."<br/><br/>Deimos wrote out two messages: one to be sent by carrier pigeon and one for QianHua to carry.  Both were stamped with Lethe's seal and then distributed.  As he was at the door to leave the orphanage, the Knight finally spoke up: "Thank you."<br/><br/>Grey eyes narrowed on him and QianHua harrumphed as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.  "I'm a captain.  I take care of my own."<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>[[Day 4 of Month --2]]<br/>Adair frowned at the two men walking in front of him.  Somehow Alfrei had tagged along on this journey of theirs.  The blond man had demanded to come along and Lethe, clearly bewildered at the other Knight's vehemence, had acquiesced.  What was it about Master Guilford's squad that produced such terrible Vice Captains?  From the few interactions before, he didn't recall the other man being so hostile but now, that word was the only appropriate adjective for how the man was behaving.  There was no doubt that Alfrei was still polite, but just so.  The man had been passive aggressive all three days already, subtly ignoring Adair's commands and making jibes about Lethe and Team Blonde.  It was most aggravating.  Adair had no issues with the other two, despite both being older than him and one having been a Captain before.  No, it was only Alfrei being a pain in his ass.  The other man was lucky Lethe would be upset with him if he thrashed the other Knight because he was sorely tempted to do so.<br/><br/>Joaquim glanced at the impassive man beside him.  Adair had seemed friendly, if professionally distant, after Master Lethe had initially dismissed them in the Cathedral.  He had anticipated the journey to be an easy one, or as easy as could be with Guilford’s recent death lingering over them.  However, tension loomed over the group like an invisible cloud.  He could only guess at the other man's irritation by comparing the demeanor Adair had had back at the Cathedral with the nearly emotionless mien that now overtook the younger Knight's face.  The other Knight’s control was astounding.  From the staring, Joaquim would guess somehow Alfrei or Georg had earned the other Knight's ire though he didn't remember anything in particular that might have started this pall.<br/><br/>"Vice Captain Adair! Knights Alfrei, Gerog, and Joaquim!"  A young voice from in front grabbed all their attentions.  A young Knight waved at them from the upcoming intersection.  "Captain Almanzo sends his regards and requests that you come dine with him."  Alfrei frowned.  He didn't want to spend another hour or two having to pretend that everything was okay.  How could it be?  Bryn and Guilford were dead.  Their team had been split up and some shrew was trying to pretend to be their captain!  He opened his mouth to deny the request when another voice spoke up from behind him.<br/><br/>"Thank you very much, Knight.  We would be happy to do so."  He turned a glare to the intruder.  The bitch’s lapdog.  "Actually--" he started to speak but was over spoken once more: "Could you lead the way?"  His glare was met with an equally frigid look as the blue-armored Knight walked past him.  An easy smile appeared on Adair's face as he turned to the now uncertain looking Knight.  "How long have you been in the Pristine Knight Corps?"<br/><br/>The young Knight looked between the two men uncertainly but hastened to answer the Vice Captain's question.  The two soon fell into easy conversation.  Georg looked between Adair's back and the seething Alfrei.  As a former Captain, he could see the subtle insubordination Alfrei was attempting.  He didn't understand why, but he'd been trying to keep the younger Knight's attention away from Adair.  Of course, Adair couldn't let sleeping dogs lie and had to provoke Alfrei by ignoring the blonde's words.<br/><br/>"Come.  We better not be left behind."  Joaquim spoke up, his attention on their Vice Captain.  Alfrei scowled but stomped after the leaving Knights.  The two rear guards shared a look and followed silently.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/><span style="color: #8000FF">"These times may be grim, but we cannot give into despair.  Master Guilford may have fallen, but his ideals live on in all of us!"</span><br/><div style="text-align: center;">----</div><br/><span style="color: #FFFF40">"It cared not for the lives of children, of defenseless men and women!  It cared only to destroy that which people, just like you, had so painstakingly built.  It may seem easy to give into the Sinners.  They ask you to do nothing but look away from their atrocities, knowing we of the Light won't attack you.  But they will come and destroy everything you've worked so hard to create.  They don't value honest hard work; they want and so they will take.  Is that the world you want to live in?  Where might makes right?"</span><br/><div style="text-align: center;">----</div><br/><span style="color: #FF80FF">"It can be hard to do what's right.  It requires admitting we're not always right, constantly second guessing ourselves to make sure we won't harm others.  We open ourselves up to pain by constantly worrying about others.  But that concern for others, it means that when everything seems full of despair, there are hands that will reach out to you to help pick you up."  The voice paused for a second and its next words wavered, "I want to live in a world like that.  I want the world to be like that.  Where strangers care for other strangers, where we all strive to do better.”</span><br/><div style="text-align: center;">----</div><br/><span style="color: #8000FF"> “We are the legacy of the Pure!  We are the defenders of the Immaculate!  We are the protectors of the innocent!  We are Pristine Knights!”</span><br/><div style="text-align: center;">----</div><br/><span style="color: #FFFF40"> “No! We are better than that!  You may wield no sword, you may not have overbearing strength, but you are not helpless!”</span><br/><div style="text-align: center;">----</div><br/><span style="color: #FF80FF"> “But this isn’t something I can do alone.  This is something we must all work together for.  You all, <span style="text-decoration: underline">we all</span>, have the strength within us to reject Sin, to create this better world.”</span><br/><div style="text-align: center;">----</div><br/>Three voices, all from different speakers and in different locations, echoed words they had long heard from their Captain: “We must be the change that we seek in this world.”<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>[[Day 5 of Month --2]]<br/>YunQiao frowned at the stacks of books around him.  What was Captain searching for? She'd had him researching for the past two days on anything related to the Pure and ancient demons.  One thing that kept coming up was the mention of “Light’s Wrath.” He'd never heard of such a thing before but the idea of a more potent holy magic was appealing.  He jotted down all the notes about this esoteric magic that he could find in his current book and then pushed it aside.  Somehow, he'd run out of books.  Fiona was supposed to be getting books for him.  Where was that--oh right. Valiar had taken the newbie for the day.  With a long-suffering sigh, he gathered his notes and got to his feet. Now was as good a time as ever to bring his findings to the Captain.<br/><br/>As he was wandering the hallways, a voice called out to him: "Knight YunQiao!"  He turned to see an advocate and QianHua from Fleur Terres. What was she doing here? "This is Master Lethe's guest. Could you bring her to Master Lethe?"<br/><br/>YunQiao nodded and the advocate flashed him a grateful smile before scurrying off.  He turned towards their squad quarters and motioned for the woman to follow him. "What brings you to Gless?"<br/><br/>"Lethe requested something of mine. I figured hand delivery would be better."<br/><br/>"I'm sure my mother would be happy to see you, Auntie."<br/><br/>Amused grey eyes turned away from the scenery, a smile playing on her lips.  “Ah, so you know?”<br/><br/>“My mother was surprised when I mentioned you.  She thought you dead.”<br/><br/>“Yes, I wonder why.”<br/><br/>There was a pointed silence before YunQiao continued, “Will you stop by, Auntie?”<br/><br/>There was a long suffering sigh.  “I suppose I must.  Are they all stick-in-the-muds like you?”<br/><br/>Blue eyes glared at the amused woman before him.  “No, Auntie, they’re worse.”<br/><br/>The response startled a laugh out of her.  “I guess you wouldn’t have survived on Lethe’s team without a sense of humor.  Are you sure you’re a Cao?  Us Xues were always more fun.”  YunQiao only smirked and bowed shallowly at the compliment.  “So how did you end up on Lethe’s squad anyways?”<br/><br/>“A story for another time, Auntie.  We’re here.”  YunQiao rapped on the door and then opened it to the sight of stacks of paper.  Red rimmed eyes stared at him from the center of the room before Lethe got to her feet.<span style="color: silver"> “YunQiao.  Are those?”</span>Her attention turned to her second guest and widened in surprise.<span style="color: silver">“Lady QianHua.  What brings you here?”</span><br/><br/>“Did you really think I was going to let you play with Divine Magic without supervision?”  The ex-Knight wondered with a smile, crossing her arms across her chest imperiously.  Both women, so focused on each other, missed the sudden interest in their third companion’s eyes.  He nudged the door shut, activated the wards, and then watched the conversation in front of him.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “I didn’t think anything would bring you back to the Cathedral, Lady QianHua.”</span><br/><br/>“Yes, well, you clearly learned to flatter from the best of them.  And flattery, my dear, will get you everywhere.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Haha, I apologize.  But thank you for coming.”</span><br/><br/>“Yes, well.”  Critical grey eyes surveyed the stacks of paperwork on the floor.  “It appears it’s a good thing I did.  Do you need to finish this or shall we start now?”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Now would be better.  I can work on these when I’m resting.”</span><br/><br/>“I feel obliged to remind you, this is dangerous.  Mortals aren’t meant to play around in the divine realm.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “I don’t have a choice.”</span>A swift shake of her head cut off whatever QianHua had been about to say.<span style="color: silver">“No, I don’t.  Whatever took down Guilford is still out there.  I can’t be ripping through the divine realms as carelessly as I did in Luciano.  I’m lucky to be alive.”</span>She paused before adding bitterly,<span style="color: silver">“I’m lucky none of my squad or Gil’s got killed from it.  Countless innocents did.  It’s unacceptable.”</span>Blue eyes sought out grey ones.<br/><br/>QianHua scowled but nodded her head.  “Fine.  Is there somewhere to work?”<br/><br/>They turned to the door only to realize there was still a third person in the room.  Said person was scowling like his Aunt, arms folded over his chest.  He may not have been as close to Lethe like the other members of the squad, but that didn’t mean he was going to stand aside and let her do whatever crazy magic that had knocked her out for nine days.  “Perhaps you’d like to explain, Captain?”<br/><br/>The two women shared a look before QianHua commented, as if he wasn’t right in front of them, “He can help set up a containment seal while you’re working.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“I’d rather YunQiao not dabble in this.  As you said, it’s dangerous.”</span><br/><br/>“And he’ll undoubtedly try it on his own then now that we’ve talked about it in front of him.”  There was a glance in his direction.  “He is related to me after all.”<br/><br/>Lethe sighed in resignation.<span style="color: silver"> “Very well then.  YunQiao, can you clear one of the cleansing rooms?  The suppression seals are strongest there.”</span>Her last sentence was directed to QianHua who simply nodded in acceptance.  YunQiao stared at them suspiciously, wondering if this was a ploy to get him out of here.  Captain could be surprisingly crafty when she wanted to be.<br/><br/>With a laugh at his (well placed) suspicions, Lethe waved him off.<span style="color: silver">“Go.  I promise we won’t move.”</span>Despite her words, she walked around the desk to pick up another report.  With one last look, YunQiao left the room to do as requested.