[[Day 5 (Continued) in Palaugrim :: On the road between Alera and Bastille ]]<br/><br/>It was hard to believe it had been five days already.  It felt both too short and much too long.  Here in this clearing, with the sky bright above them and the sunlight streaming in, she found it easy to forget that she was in Palaugrim.  This could easily be a scene from Lindela with the easy chatter flowing among her team.  An unusual mezzo-soprano suddenly spoke up and there was a grunt of pain.  Well, not quite a scene from Lindela since Kanna was here, but her presence made it even better.  If she pretended, she could hear QianHua singing softly, the scratching of pen on paper as Feyth wrote yet another letter, Captain Abel gruffly telling the boys to settle down, and Guilford getting teased for being too uptight.  Yes, she could almost pretend.<br/><br/>Footsteps approached her and then there was the almost silent whisper of metal brushing against metal.  Only Roland’s armor could ever get that quiet.  She leaned towards Adair, who was kind enough to not say anything.  He always had been a compassionate soul, one of the reasons she’d chosen him for his spot.  The weight of captaincy was heavy on her fragile shoulders; she had never been destined for the line of command.  That was more Guilford’s thing.  She was just an orphan from nowhere who had been running from her past.  And somehow… She reluctantly opened her eyes and turned to look at her Vice Captain, memories still playing on her face.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Yes, Adair?”</span><br/><br/>Green eyes stared at her, as if trying to decipher a hidden meaning behind her words.  She wasn’t smart enough for that; the double meanings and hidden messages that Cricket thrived in, and Adair had learned from Lesus, were too complicated for her.  She was lucky to have such skilled men and women on her squad, all of her squads.<br/><br/>“I was just wondering if you wanted to leave soon?  We can probably get another hour or two of travel in before sunset, unless we are waylaid again.”  Waylaid again…  Such a nice euphemism for what they’d had to do.  Just this day alone had already required another four attacks on Sinners.  She was thankful there’d only been one more that she hadn’t been able to save.  But to see so many Sinners in Knight controlled territories was troubling.  If only she had been able to come out here sooner… Her mind summoned the image of Sierra to her mind.  Could she have stopped Gramhold from turning away from the Light?  Could she have stopped those impostors from terrorizing the villages?<span style="font-style: italic">Light, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.</span><br/><br/>With another sigh (because, really, this entire trip had been filled with sighs!), Lethe hauled herself to her feet, turning to offer a hand to her Vice Captain.<span style="color: Silver">“Yes, I suppose it’s time to go.”</span>She turned to her squad and lifted her voice to be heard:<span style="color: silver"> “Team Blonde, pack up!”</span>It was such a silly name, chosen back when Valiar was the only dark-haired member of their squad.  It had stuck around ever since, even though her squad had more brunettes now, almost half in fact as Leon was on the border of both.<br/><br/>Kanna laughed her easy laugh, the one that reminded her of Seraphim.  The two were like peas in a pod if not for coloring.  She was glad the ex-Knight had agreed to come along.  It was good for Seraphim to meet another successful female Knight who brawled like her.  Unconsciously, she was turning her head to her left and as always, Adair was there with a pad of paper and a pen.  The two shared an amused smile.  When had they gotten to know each others’ idiosyncrasies so well?  (Although, truthfully, it was more like Adair knew<span style="font-style: italic">her</span>quirks since she was always depending on him!)<span style="color: silver">“Please make a note that we’ll try to stop by Lizbeth on.. oh I don’t know, whenever.  I want Seraphim to meet Elizabeth and Mirajane.  And you too.  It’d do you good to meet Elizabeth.”</span>She turned away, already knowing Adair would have the reminder written down both on paper and in his memory.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Our next stop will be Bastille; it should be another day from here.  From there, we go to Santa Olivia, the last Knight fortress on the Knight Controlled Territories. After that, we enter Sin-controlled lands, head to Zairyon, and finally Luciano.  At the rate we’re going, I hope to be in Luciano in about five days, seven more likely given delays.  That leaves us with one to two weeks to finish things in Luciano and slip back to Lindela, hopefully before they realize we’re…”</span>Her eyes caught YunQiao’s fellow blue ones and she amended impishly,<span style="color: silver">“perfectly on time!”</span>The brunette’s snort and head shake told her he understood the reference, but she was glad to note he seemed more entertained than disapproving.  Even after three years together, he maintained high expectations of how she should act.<br/><br/>Originally, Seraphim had questioned keeping him on the squad (“you shouldn’t have to maintain your public persona around us!  We’re your squad!”), but Lethe had insisted otherwise.  He was a skilled mage, the best of his class if she recalled correctly, and it was good for someone to ensure she maintained decorum when needed.  Pivoting on a heel, she took her spot at the head of the column.  Kanna was currently sharing the position with her after everyone had decided it would be best to not mess around with their normal formation.  Practice made perfect and instincts could save lives and all that jazz.  The two started walking, a bit off sync, until they re-adjusted to one another’s strides.  Soon, they were running through the trees once more, the steady beat of footsteps behind them a reassuring thrum to her ears.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/><br/>[[Day 5 in Palaugrim :: Acier Terres (one of Alera’s surrounding towns)]]<br/><br/>The demon cheerfully popped into the lair that supposedly housed her ‘brother.’  A flaming knife flew towards her and she teleported out of the way.<span style="color: red"> “Missed me!~”</span>Lilith teleported forward once more, throwing her arms around the demon hunched over a desk.  The resulting ‘hug’ looked more like a headlock.<span style="color: red"> “Little bro! What have you been up to?”</span><br/><br/><span style="color: orange">“Don’t call me that.”</span>The speaker responded monotonously, flipping a page of his book.  He glanced up, black eyes glaring into her red ones.<span style="color: orange"> “Familial bonds are for the weak, for those who need others to help define their selves.”</span><br/><br/><span style="color: red"> “Awww, there’s no need to be like that.”</span>Lillith assured, nuzzling her cheek against the top of the demon’s hooded head.<span style="color: red"> “Just because you’re the youngest of us doesn’t mean we think any less of you~”</span>Her tone implied the exact opposite as did the smirk playing on her lips.  Black eyes narrowed further before they lightened up.  A matching smirk grew on his face,<span style="color: orange"> “Should you really be talking, <span style="font-style: italic">little sister</span>?”</span><br/><br/>The redhaired demon drew back with a sneer as the other demon turned around to face her.<span style="color: red"> “Mimicking my words now, Raim?”</span><br/><span style="color: orange"> “Not at all, dearest little sister.  After all, <span style="font-style: italic">you</span> were the last to be exalted.”</span><br/>Lilith’s face transformed into a mask of hatred and her claws lashed out for the impudent whelp, only to be deflected by a chain of fire.  The chains wrapped around her, binding her in place and burning her flesh.  She snarled again but couldn’t break free.<br/><span style="color: orange">“Tsk tsk, little sister.  Have all those years in stasis made you dull?  To be caught so easily… no wonder it took you so long to be exalted.”</span><br/>She bared her teeth to no avail.  She couldn’t break free.<span style="color: red"> “What about you, little brother?  What have you been up to?  Only one island in our control and not even the largest?!  Mighty mighty Raim, unable to even take the rest of humanity after our great King destroyed their Pure and their Pristine Knights.  What’s the use of your great battle prowess if you’re stuck in this dirthole?!  Ooh, fear me cockroaches, I am the mighty Raim!”</span>She mocked, her eyes almost glowing with an unholy light.  A teleport later and her face was right in his so she could whisper,<span style="color: red">“What’s that, little brother?  Scared?”</span><br/><br/>This time Raim was the discomposed one as he lashed out.  His hand hit nothing as Lillith had already teleported out of range.<span style="color: red">“I want some of these Sin Crystals.  And any information you have on Amon, Syndra, or the King.  I’ll start looking around to see if I can find them or get any clues.”</span>She stared into the wall, her vision clearly somewhere much further.<span style="color: red">“Tch.  They ruined most of my eyes.”</span>She walked out the door of his personal lair, coming across his audience room.  Like hers, it was being used for their Sinners and Pure Sinners to work in.<span style="color: red"> “Minions!  Sin Crystals!”</span>She demanded, knowing the symbol etched on her stomach would be enough to command obedience.  As she expected, a Sinner rushed up to her with a bag of these Sin Crystals.  Hmm, Raim’s Sinners were more obedient than hers, she noted sourly.  She’d have to crack the whip at her lair.  Bag in hand, she returned to Raim’s personal room.  He was sulking by his desk.  She laughed at the sight and then took a bite into one of the crystals.  It elicited a moan of pleasure.  It was like being with the Great King again.  With a sigh of contentment, she flopped onto Raim’s overly comfortable bed (because Sinners enjoyed<span style="font-style: italic">all</span>the comforts of the world, unlike those repressive Immaculate who tried to paint pleasure, a normal reaction, as shameful) and continued her way through the treats.  Mmm.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/>[[Day 6 in Palaugrim (Night) :: Bastille ]]<br/><br/>Lethe stretched out languorously, feeling her toes curl with delight as her body sagged into the mattress.  Sweet, sweet mattress.  Little pleasures like these made the days more bearable. She was thankful the day had been relatively boring, a repeat of yesterday really.  While she still thought there were more Sinners than should exist in Knight Controlled territories, Kanna had assured her the number they had captured wasn’t considered a large number of Sinners.  At least not by Palaugrim’s standards.  Her hands clenched into fists at that modifier.  They’d have to fix that: “by Palaugrim’s standards.”  One day, nowhere would have Sin.<br/><br/>With a sigh, she collapsed fully into the bed and just laid there in contentment.  She shouldn’t ruin this amazing bed with such depressing thoughts.  Instead, she smiled at the scolding QianHua had sent her.  Hadn’t she wanted to remain<span style="font-style: italic">discreet</span>. the former Knight Captain had wondered, because the woman’s poor eagles were getting more exercise these past two days than they normally got in a week!  The matron had already provided a second carrier eagle to Team Blonde; QianHua had no intentions of giving them her last one as well.  It was good they were making a difference.  Lethe rolled over into her pillow and let out a sound of happiness, ignoring the chortle on the other side of the room.<br/><br/>Seraphim might be laughing now, but just wait until the pink-haired woman got into<span style="font-style: italic">her</span>own bed.  The gasp of delight and moan of pleasure were Lethe’s revenge.  The white-haired Knight would have laughed at her teammate’s hypocrisy, but that required too much energy.  A full stomach, a nice bath, and now a comfy bed.  What was there not to be happy about?  She wriggled under the blanket, unwilling to go through the effort of actually standing up and pulling the covers back.  With a happy smile, she felt herself drift off to bed.<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>A chill on her back woke her from her sleep.  Blue eyes snapped open in confusion and turned to look behind her.  She was on the perimeter of--something.  She wasn’t quite sure what, but whatever was behind her was dark and filled her with a sense of dread.  Though her footing was firm, it seemed like a bad idea to be standing so close to the edge of whatever this was.  She moved to take a step forward but found herself unable to move.  When she tried to look down, her head refused to obey.  She scanned her perimeter, which was all she was allowed to do, and found herself alone.  This was… very unusual.  A soft giggle caught her wandering attention.  When she turned her head to look, there was nothing there.  Another giggle, this time from a different direction.  Lethe could feel a frown forming on her face as she gnawed on the corner of her lip.  Suddenly, an ice cold hand wrapped itself around the right side of her face, forcing her head to look straight. An ice cold cheek pressed against her left cheek, trapping her head still.  From the periphery of her vision, she could see red hair caught between them.<br/><br/><span style="color: red"> “Hello~”</span> A happy voice whispered, prompting gooseflesh to break out all along her skin.  <span style="color: red"> “You’re stronger than the others.”</span> It mused before grinning; though she couldn’t see the creature beside her, she could feel as its cheeks pulled back to form the expression.  <span style="color: red"> “It might be worthwhile to play with you.”</span>  Those words appeared to trigger an event and in front of her eyes, the battle in Lindela’s District Eight appeared.  However, this time there was no Sin manifestation.  It was Lethe wearing the grey-blue dress with lips the color of blood.  Her keyblades were pitch black and she callously swept away Gil’s squad with one whirl of her swords.  Her voice was mutilated with an anger she had long ago buried away within her as she shouted maliciously, <span style="color: red">“I will obliterate each and every one of you!”</span>  One of her keys blocked an attack by Alfrei, another slamming him in the stomach and punting him towards a bell tower that suddenly started tolling. <span style="font-style: italic">Dong. Dong. Dong.</span><br/><br/>Lethe forced her eyes closed on the scene, not fast enough to avoid watching the Sinned version of herself impale Brynhildr with a black sword.  <span style="font-style: italic">Dong.</span>  Guilford’s scream echoed in her ears.  <br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Enough, creature of Sin.”</span>  She surprised herself with the evenness of her voice, <span style="color: silver">“Your lies cannot bend the truth.”</span>  She felt the creature draw away from her and stare at her in contemplation.  <br/><br/><span style="color: red"> “What lies?”</span> It parroted in confusion, <span style="color: red"> “You’re the reason Brynhildr’s dead after all.  If only you had just told Guilford about the crystals, you wouldn’t have been so weak that you couldn’t even help fight Lilith.  In fact, given how much smarter Guilford is, he probably would have realized what the crystal was and stopped the rebirth all together… You know, the one that you enabled.”</span>  The phantom brush of lightning on her skin had the Seraph tensing in memory of the pain.  The nightmare sighed heavily.  <span style="color: red"> “How long are you going to keep your eyes closed?  How long are you going to run away and keep denying what’s in front of you?”</span>  Even knowing she was being provoked, the innocently worded challenge still irked Lethe enough for her to open her eyes and glare into the red eyes of the speaker.  The phantom only grinned in response.<br/><br/>There was the sound of a whip slithering across the ground behind her and then something caught her ankle, pulling her down towards the abyss.  Lethe barely caught herself on the ledge in time.  She strained to keep aloft despite the harsh tugging on her ankle.  Slowly, her boot started to come free and then with a <span style="font-style: italic">crack</span> and a <span style="font-style: italic">pop!</span>, her bare foot dangled in the air.  Something bellowed in confusion far far below her but Lethe was already on her feet, running as fast as she could away.  The red-headed entity only watched her leave, the distance unable to mute its last words: <span style="color: red">“Trying to escape? Like I’ll let you.”</span></div></blockquote><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>[[Day 7 in Palaugrim (Morning) :: Bastille]]<br/><br/>Somehow, it didn’t look like Lethe had gotten much sleep.  Seraphim could feel the squad’s inquiring looks but she had no idea what to say.  She’d been out like a log last night.  (Oh light, that bed!!  She was coming back and abducting it on their return trip.)  From Lethe’s pleased sounds before she fell asleep, Seraphim had assumed the other Knight was as happy with her mattress as she had been with hers.  The burn of Adair’s stare on her temple was getting annoyed and she glared right back.  No, she had<span style="text-decoration: underline">no</span>idea why the bags under the Captain’s eyes had gotten darker!  The Captain had already been awake when she’d woken up and was praying, gathering holy magic in her hands.  Nothing suspicious had happened!