<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><div style="text-align: center;">Day 10 of month 3 - Caletta: Grand Cathedral Barracks</div></span></span><br/><br/><br/>Now that it was official that he clearly outranked her, Yulia couldn't afford to give him any bite no matter how much she wanted to. Despite how hard she fought it, she just couldn't bring herself to like this man, yet she was somehow drawn to him, almost like a bad case of fixation. It was because of this reason that she chose to request a transfer under The Lion's command. She was looking for answers. "Captain Fitzherberg, my request for transfer was authorized by Knight Commander Sigfried himself. If you think my being here would cause you any trouble, worry not sir." Yulia responded professionally.<br/><br/>The more he looked at her, the more he could see her resemblance with Yael—they both had the same fire in their eyes. He was more than content with Yulia being under the care of Sigfried but for her to be here? Wanting to be under the command of the man who let her brother die in his arms? It was wrong, this was all wrong. Yael wanted her to live a peaceful life. He did everything in his power so that she would not even think about signing up to the knighthood; the role of the dutiful brother—Yael played it perfectly. Lance thought back to those times he shared with her brother. If Yael made Yulia a promise, he would do whatever it takes so that he could keep it. One such promise was the one he said about getting home in time for dinner. They were on a routine patrol that time and was ambushed by Sinners led by two Pure Sinners. Outnumbered six to one, Lance's squad engaged their enemies in a desperate fight to stay alive. Yael who was determined about getting back home in time to have dinner with Yulia yelled at one of the Pure Sinners before he struck the finishing blow. He said: "I will not be late for dinner!" Since then, if someone from their squad said 'it's time for dinner', that meant to mop up quick.<br/><br/>"Very well," Lance paused, eyes going back to Yulia's prowess report. "You have an impressive record Yulia." he commented as he continued reading. She was not exceptionally strong in terms of both physical and magical aspects, yet one cannot say she was weak in either of them too. If anything, she was a well-rounded knight that excelled in the field of cunning. She was a tactical one if Lance had to categorize her. "The big question is, why did you choose to transfer?" he asked, setting down Yulia's prowess report. "Before Sigfried was made Knight Commander, as you already know, is one of the most desirable Captains to fall under the command of."<br/><br/>The time it took for her to respond was enough for Lance to call hesitation. Though her eyes never wavered, Lance knew that she was not prepared to answer such a question. "To give others a chance to rise in the ranks." she finally answered. "As a Vice Captain for Knight Commander Sigfried, I was almost always helping him with paperwork."<br/><br/>"So you dislike paperwork?"<br/><br/>"No Captain Fitzherberg. I was a Scribe before I became a Knight. I feel like I have done my time with paperwork and I strongly believe that I could contribute more to the cause by being on field duty. Under Knight Commander Sigfried, I do not get that chance too often."<br/><br/>Beautiful. Lance would have believed it if only what she said did not sound or feel like half the truth. There was something else, and he knows it. "Alright then, since you are a Vice Captain, I'd skip the situational questions and ask you a different one instead." Lance crossed both arms before his chest. "If you feel that way, why didn't you ask for a transfer sooner? We both know that it could be done." he leveled his eyes at her, an inquisitive gaze at that. "Why under my command?"<br/><br/>It took her by surprise again. She had prepared for the situational questions yet this man was prying at her reasons instead. It only made the questions she had about this man scream louder. Who was he? Why does it feel like he knew her for a long time now? More importantly, why does it feel like he was hiding something from her? She only met him the first time in Kaiser Outpost and yet those eyes that he had when he heard her name... why did he have such sad eyes?<br/><br/>"Answers..." she mumbled. "I'm looking for answers."<br/><br/>Lance felt his heart skip two—no, three beats at her response. Does she know he was her late brother's Captain? It was Yael's strict orders that they should not socialize with Yulia back then. According to him, the two of them have lost enough loved ones for her to go through that pain and suffering again. It may sound like he was keeping her out of the world's reach but of course, given how harsh a time it was back then for the knights, his request, if not unreasonable, was understandable.<br/><br/>"Answers huh..." Lance trailed off and picked up his seal. He stamped it on the part intended for him on Yulia's transfer request and looked at the female knight as he handed the papers over. "I hope you find them." he said and offered a hand for her to shake. "Welcome to<span style="font-style: italic">The Pride</span>." Yulia gratefully accepted her transfer documents and shook Lance's hand. "It's a pleasure to be working with you, Captain."<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Day 10 of Month 3 - Grand Cathedral: Squad Eight Quarters.</span><br/><br/><br/>A razor-sharp glare from Alfrei bore through the back of Hyuga who claimed to be in "extensive research" about the Unknown Seal that they had found in Palaugrim. Layers upon layers of sketches, documents, research material and a couple food boxes lay scattered in the vicinity of Hyuga's work corner within the room. By no means was the man a slob, he just tends to forget the essence of the word tidy, clean, organized and whatever term existed regarding the idea when he is preoccupied by scientific endeavors. Alfrei watched the man scuffle, rummage, pace and attempt to pull out all of his hair in a futile effort. He had been at it since the day they got back and not once had the Dreamer left his own enclosed dimension.<br/><br/>"Give it up. You know full well that you're not going to find anything." Georg grunted while shifting to a more comfortable slack on the couch. "The Captain and Master Lethe wouldn't classify it as an unknown had there been existing records of whatever it is that you guys found." he added and turned to look at Alfrei who seemed like he was about to burst a nerve in annoyance.<br/><br/>"You normals wouldn't understand..." Hyuga mumbled mindlessly, uncaring and unaffected by Georg's attempt at deterring him from his research. Instead, he smoothly turned to his side table and plucked out his personal diary from the drawer, jotting down notes just as fast as he could dip his feather pen in ink.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">You</span>should give it up Georg." Joaquim chuckled while moving his Seraph piece on the Knights game board. He was in the process of executing a flawless strategy against the younger Natalia who was determined to win the game against him. "We all know there's no separating him from his research all things considered."<br/><br/>Georg sighed in defeat, Joaquim was right. While they were seemingly enjoying some downtime, the fact remains that the thirteenth moon was fast approaching and the fate of the islands would then be placed in their hands. In their own way, all of them were either physically or mentally preparing themselves for the things to come. Hyuga was probably determined to find a way to harness something out of that unknown seal to be used to their advantage. Them on the other hand, those who doesn't share the same level of intellect as the Dreamer, were taking the time to rest their weary bodies, all in preparation for the thirteenth as well.<br/><br/>"I wonder how the Council meeting turned out..." Vlad attempted a change of subject. It wouldn't do any of them good to be prodding at each others' backs in these times.<br/><br/>Only then did Alfrei release his death glare trained at Hyuga upon hearing Vlad's words. "We'd have to wait for the Captain to get back for news. As much as I'm anxious to know our play against Eve's attack, we have little say in the matter entirely. All we can really do is wait and prepare..." he trailed off, glancing around the room in search of someone. Again, one of them was missing. "Has any of you seen Fiona?" he finally asked after realizing that he hasn't seen much of her since they got back. Alfrei hoped someone had but the shaking heads from his squadmates immediately made it clear. "It's way past our designated call time." he paused and turned to Vlad. "Could you go look for her?"<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Day 10 of month 3 - Caletta: Streets</span><br/><br/><br/>Afraid. This is what she had become after their recent skirmish in Palaugrim—her first real skirmish. Who would have thought that it would turn out to be a nightmare? Fiona wandered Caletta's streets aimlessly, lost in her own thoughts of powerlessness, drowning in her self-pity, carrying her confidence that had sunken at an all-time low. She was wearing her casual clothes instead of her azure armor, any intent of reporting for duty long discarded with the early morning mist, and any trace of elegance she had, had gone with the wind. Head low and with a confused heart, the events of that fateful battle streamed inside her head repeatedly, those burning red eyes tormenting her immediately after. Now that things had quieted down as much as it was allowed in these times, and with no more adrenaline to shield her from her innermost thoughts, Fiona felt weak and vulnerable for the first time in her life. Did they really win that battle? She had done her best and all it amounted to was to invite death right before her doorstep. Had it not been for her Captain, she could have been very well sent home in a body bag.<br/><br/>"One of the best and brightest huh?" she spat in disgust of herself. She was often referred to as<span style="font-style: italic">that</span>back in her academy days, but just look at her now, a full-fledged knight who was defeated and disgraced. If the best and the brightest couldn't cut it, and the most powerful knights—the Seraphs—were unable to land a finishing blow against Eve, who else was there left to defeat her? The council? Those old men who knew nothing about holding a sword? Abel? The knight who kept burning his life force just so he could continue serving the cause? For all she knows, Abel chose to seal Eve because he couldn't defeat her back then. Fiona chuckled painfully. In her mind she had already given up, there was simply no defeating a powerful opponent such as Eve. For a knight of her caliber to even hope? It was ridiculous. These people—Fiona stopped and raised her head lightly. The sight of the busy streets filled with sounds of ambient chatter made her stomach swirl, until she couldn't hold it in any longer...<br/><br/>Staggering to the side alley on her left where there were almost no people, Fiona threw up what little food she had tried to eat for breakfast. Truly she had no more grace left in her if she could manage to throw up in public like this. Wiping her mouth dry with the back of her hand, Fiona rested herself against the wall, deflating slowly to the ground and staring at nothing in particular. To stare at death straight in the eyes, let alone fight it... how could the Seraphs even manage that? Why couldn't she? Soon, she found herself trembling with fear once more, unsure if there was any safe place left in this world.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Oh... It's just you."</span><br/><br/>Startled at the foreign yet familiar male voice, Fiona immediately collected herself and pulled herself back to her feet. The light behind the man from the streets prevented her from recognizing him immediately, prompting the knight to take a defensive stance. It was only when the man took a few steps forward that she realized who he was. "Oh! Sir Akira, what are you doing here?"<br/><br/>Akira yawned as if to imply that he had just wasted his effort. "I mistook you for someone else." he said smugly, avoiding eye contact with Fiona. The other in turn raised a brow in suspicion. Did she really have the aptitude to fool one of the most renowned scouts? She didn't think so. "Mistook me for someone else? If anything, I know your eyes are too keen for that." she said, easing from her defensive poise.<br/><br/>Sighing in defeat, Akira smirked and finally looked at her in the eyes. "I really thought you were someone else. I didn't recognize you without your armor." he admitted openly, curling both arms above his chest.<br/><br/>"Do I look<span style="text-decoration: underline">that</span>suspicious to you?" Fiona questioned the retired scout. Now that she thought about it, he heard from and had been warned by other members of The Crests that Akira had been known to have a certain liking towards the opposite gender. "Or were you following me because of your... habit?" she put it subtly.<br/><br/>Akira chuckled. "It's a bad habit yes, but it's good for my heart...and skill set." he contradicted.<br/><br/>However, before either of them could mutter any other word, their attention had been brought behind them when several cloaked figures jumped down from the rooftops. With two more appearing behind Akira, both of them had become conveniently trapped inside the alley. Akira immediately reacted by jumping to Fiona's backside to protect her six. There were five of them by his count, possibly one more on lookout duty.<br/><br/>"Fiona la Riviere, you're coming with us." one of them demanded with authority in her tone.<br/><br/>"You know these people?" Akira asked the pristine knight behind him while taking a good look at the two cloaked people in front of him. He noted that their skin tone was visibly pale and that they, despite wearing combat armor beneath their cloaks, carried themselves with grace and dignity akin to Fiona's demeanor. "Is this the reason why you were shadowing me?" Fiona asked him back, cursing herself for deciding not to report for duty today. "Ah well, that would be too convenient now wouldn't it?" Akira responded, slowly sliding both hands to the hilt of his hip daggers.<br/><br/>"I'll say it again Fiona la Riviere, you're coming with us. We have orders to bring you back no matter what and we are authorized to use force if necessary. Come quietly and nobody needs to get hurt. What say you?"<br/><br/>Before Fiona could respond, an arm snaked around her belly followed by Akira, with daggers drawn, coming in front of her protectively. "Now now ladies and gentlemen, we all know I can't let you do that. Fiona here is an active Pristine Knight, unarmed sure, but active." he mocked her for being casual on this day. "taking her by any means would cause...problems either way for both her organization and yours."<br/><br/>"Silence! This has nothing to do with you surface dweller! Do not stick your nose where it does not belong!"<br/><br/>Surface dweller? Akira noted the term but refrained from biting into it. Instead, he lowered his stance to a more comfortable defensive one and raised his dagger out front. "Ouch. Rather rude for a lady aren't we? Should I teach you more lady-like manners?" Akira cooly responded, keeping his keen eyes trained at the one who seemed to be the leader of the pack, while using the sheen of his dagger blade to keep the ones behind them in check.<br/><br/>With his taunting, several of them opted to draw their weapons but a simple hand motion from the one in charge dissuaded them from doing so. The cloaked woman then lowered her hood, revealing her face to the man before her with a firey and confident glare. "Boy, I do hope you know how to fight." she drew her weapon from beneath her cloak. It was a circular blade that Akira had never seen before. Seconds later, she charged straight into Akira, catching the man a little bit by surprise.<br/><br/>Responding to her incoming onslaught, Akira's first move was to evade and get accustomed to the range of his opponent's weapon. It was just a little longer than his daggers but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Soon, Akira and the cloaked woman both clashed in the middle of the alley in fierce combat, trading blows while gauging each other and neither one of them wanting to back down. Fiona knew how skilled Akira was; not a single one of them from Squad Eight (with the exception of their Captain) could touch him in terms of speed, yet he was skilled enough in weapons combat that even with just daggers against swords, he could take them all on with ease. Still, even with that knowledge, it was surprising to see him fighting someone on even terms. Yet that wasn't the fact that greatly bothered Fiona. It was the honor these cloaked people had. Surely they could have simply taken her by now with their leader occupying Akira's attention but none of them moved. The rest of them just stood there watching, like they were sure their leader would be the one to come out on top.<br/><br/>It felt like forever but when the first minute of their clash came to an end, Akira was the one skidding back with a gash on his right cheek. As if declaring her victory, the woman lowered her weapons with a smug look on her face. To a veteran warrior, sustaining the first wound in combat (depending on where it was sustained and its severity) indicated a difference in skill. The more grave the first wound is, the larger the gap in skill was. However, Akira simply returned her smug look with a chuckle of his own. Seconds later, the entirety of the woman's cloak fell to the ground, revealing her armored form—curves and all—to Akira's eyes. "I was right. You're smoking hot." he smirked, annoying his opponent even more.<br/><br/>"Akira!" Fiona called out to him, panic visible by her facial expression. "Be careful! Don't take them lightly!" she yelled in warning. Tracing Fiona's line of sight, Akira could only assume that the source of her aggitation was the symbol emblazoned on the woman's chest armor. It looked like a rune of some sort and if he was going to refer to his mediocre knowledge of runes, it would read 'Guardian'. Before Akira could place his thoughts on the matter, the woman was once again charging at him with more vigor than she first did.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Clang!</span><br/><br/>To everybody's surprise, a newcomer had struck down her circular weapon, causing the blade to get stuck on the ground and throwing the wielder off-balance. When Akira realized what was going on, a man with long dark blue hair had his sword pointed at the woman's neck, forcing the other to submit. Gil had come in the same manner these cloaked people did, along with some of his squad members that had just now, made their presence felt.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"I don't know what's going on but you people picked the wrong place to cause trouble."</span><br/><br/>"Timing is pretty bad too." Joaquim added, annoyed that he couldn't finish his game with Natalia.<br/><br/>With the tides turning against them, the rest of the cloaked people drew their weapons, seemingly ready to fight but again, one hand signal from their cornered leader stopped them from doing anything further than that. A glance at Guilford was all she needed to understand that their chances of fulfilling their mission had just dropped to zero.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"I will give you this one chance to answer my question."</span>Gil said, bringing the tip of his sword closer to the woman's neck.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Who are you people?"</span><br/><br/>Just meeting Guilford's heavy gaze, she instantly felt this enormous pressure crashing down on her. She gulped a breath or two before managing to speak.<br/><br/>"Our quarrel is not with you Seraph. We just came to take Fiona La Riviere back with us."