[[Day 9 of Month –3, Early Morning :: Santa Olivia]]<br/><br/>The trio walked through the ruins, stopping occasionally as Lethe re-oriented herself.  The chaos from earlier and her current exhaustion made finding the previous location a challenge.  She could have sworn—no, not here?  She lifted a hand to rub wearily at her face as if rubbing it would stimulate her mind.  Maybe..<br/><br/>“Captain, is this it?”  She turned in YunQiao’s direction to find her youngest Knight pointing at the ground.  There was nothing there.  Her eyes narrowed and, faintly, she could see a rune hovering in the air.  Her work.  Lights, how tired was she to have missed that?  She nodded and flicked a finger, dispelling the privacy symbol.  The boxes and papers reappeared once more, stacked neatly.  She saw YunQiao step back at the sudden eyes that stared at him.  His hand lifted instinctively before he stopped.  “Should we..?”<br/><br/>“Let’s leave them sealed for now.”  Adair added drily, attention on the boxes.  He remembered what had been in the last set of boxes styled that way and what had come from those boxes.  Rampant sin entities weren’t really on his to do list today, especially with how weakened everyone was.  “What are those papers?”  His gaze focused on the rolled parchment leaning on the four-box pyramid and the papers peeking out underneath.<br/><br/>Lethe walked forward in response, but YunQiao swooped down before she could get much closer.  The map was handed to her—keeping her at bay—and then he restacked the Sin boxes to get to the papers previously pinned down.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Is this.. Palaugrim?”</span>She angled the map to catch more of the little light available.  Dawn had finally broken but the bulk of the city, even ruined, blocked most of it from them.<br/><br/>“I have… notes of some type, sketches of some type, and a list of.. I have no idea. Cities? Towns? Names?”  YunQiao spoke up from beside her, pausing his shuffling to squint at one page.  “Erethea.  Iovita.  Merv.  Emerald Moor.  Kazan.  What is this..?”  He looked up to see Adair shaking his head; Captain was still trying to get light to read her map properly.  He could see the outlines of an island but he’d be hard pressed to say which one.  With a shrug of his own, he moved onto the next page.  It looked like more notes but the word ‘Tethel’ caught his attention.  There had been mention of Tethel’s special troops in Master Guilford’s warning about the thirteenth; maybe the page could add more insight?<br/><br/>Adair looked between his two squadmates.  Captain was straining to lift her map high enough to catch some light; YunQiao had summoned a small globe of light and was greedily reading whatever was in his hands.  With a shake of his head, he walked over to Lethe and lifted the map higher so it could finally be read properly.  Green eyes scanned the image: “Palaugrim.”  The map suddenly folded as something pushed at it.  The amber-haired man looked down at Lethe who was frowning cutely, one finger poking at the back of the map.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Why is there light coming through?”</span>The map flattened once more as Lethe removed her finger just to poke at another spot.  Adair turned so he too looked at the map from her vantage.  As she’d pointed out, pinpricks of light were randomly coming through the map.  “Pins, perhaps?  How did you find these again?”<br/><br/>Lethe’s brow scrunched as she tried to remember.<span style="color: silver">“I was following Lance.. and then. Two Pure Sinners appeared, holding these things.  They came from..”</span>She opened her eyes once more and turned to point at one of the buildings.<span style="color: silver">“that one, I think.”</span><br/><br/>Adair shrugged a shoulder in acceptance, snagging YunQiao’s papers from the younger Knight’s hands.  “Let’s go investigate those buildings,” he nodded in the direction of Lethe’s pointing, “there may be more notes there.”  YunQiao’s frown smoothed into impassiveness, his irritation at being interrupted placated by the idea of more notes.  Although all were tired, they still fell into formation as they entered the building: Adair easing in first, then Lethe, then YunQiao.<br/><br/>There were no surprises.  The room was empty.  After a moment of caution, all three fell out of their defensive stances.  YunQiao headed for the table against the far wall, spotting stacks of paper.  Lethe just looked around curiously, trying to see if anything caught her attention.  There was a nudge of an elbow and Adair pointed at the wall to their right.  “Are those pins?”  In response, the smaller Knight headed towards the wall, Adair trailing after her.<br/><br/>True to the Vice Captain’s guess, an assortment of pins protruded from the wall.  The ball at each pin’s head were colored either red or blue.  When the map was placed in front, the pins marked various spots on it.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“It’s a match.”</span>Lethe stated dumbly, blue eyes trying to focus on what was in front of her.<span style="color: silver">“What do the colors mean?”</span>Both Knights stared at the map and its new colored dots but could decipher nothing.<span style="color: silver"> “YunQiao, is there another map over there?”</span><br/><br/>The paper YunQiao held up was much too small to use.<br/><br/>“We can mark the back with the colors.”  Adair suggested as he looked around for a pencil or pen.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “You start on that.  I’ll keep looking around.”</span><br/><br/>“I’ll look around; you mark the back.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “I’m too short to hold the map up properly.”</span><br/><br/>“… We’ll do it later then.”<br/><br/>Lethe rolled her eyes but acquiesced without a word.  The pair roamed the remainder of the building and found little more of note.  There were a few more inscribed boxes that they carefully set in a corner to be dealt with later.  The papers were similarly dumped near YunQiao who seemed more than happy to pore over them so Lethe and Adair equally happily left him to it.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>[[Day 9 of Month –3, Later morning :: Santa Olivia]]<br/>Leon shifted uncertainly at Master Guilford’s order.  The Seraph looked frightened, which was never a good thing.  However, the last time he’d seen Captain, she’d been even paler than Master Guilford.  There had been an unhealthy pallor to her face even as she commanded the troops in the Southern and Eastern sides of the town.  The last he’d heard, she was on her way back to Bastille to finally be healed.  He could go after her but if he caught up with her.. but then again, whatever he’d stumbled across with the echoes was clearly<span style="text-decoration: underline">very</span>important.  He hesitated before finally drawing up his courage.<br/><br/>Casting a glance around him to ensure only Hyuga was in earshot (well, the other man<span style="font-style: italic">was</span>right next to him), the rookie of Squad Ten cleared his throat uncomfortably.  “Master Guilford?”  He almost flinched when intense purple eyes focused on him, “Captain’s on her way back to Bastille right now.  I can run after her if you want but.. it might be best to wait a few hours.”<br/><br/>A day or two might have been better given she’d already been pounding triple shots just yesterday. (Lights, was it really just yesterday they’d been leaving Gless? It felt like an eternity.)  However, he knew that wasn’t feasible with the upcoming thirteenth day deadline and Master Guilford’s previous expression.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"Is she now? I didn't even notice."</span>Guilford paused and looked around.<span style="color: #0080FF">"That's fine. Hang on to those for me and let her know when she gets back. You can stay and take a break Leon."</span><br/><br/>Leon looked down at the papers in his hands and shrugged.  He’d have to somehow get a message to Adair that it was urgent she come back as soon as she could.  For now though, he’d just dump these with YunQiao.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>“Captain! Welcome back!”<br/><br/>A grinning Seraphim greeted Lethe at the ‘command center’ of Santa Olivia.  The battle site had been invaded by tents, tables, and Knights.  The fresh troops from Rasova had arrived and were patrolling the town.  While she was still certain this town had some sort of unknown significance (after all, even Eve had shown up for the fight here), the white Knight wasn’t sure it required an active patrol.  However, she didn’t want to counteract any orders until she understood why they’d been ordered in the first place.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Thanks, Seraphim.  What’s going on?”</span><br/><br/>The pink-haired Knight shrugged a shoulder.  “Apparently I’m in charge.”  The grin grew wider at Valiar’s vaguely alarmed look.  “Nah, well, I’m sharing in-chargeness with Georg, Deimos, and Nat—allya?”  Her face contorted as she tried to remember the blonde’s name, “whatever, the whip-happy one. She’s leading patrols; Deimos is following up on some of the areas the Knights found that looked suspicious; and Georg is coordinating with all the Knight Captains to make sure everyone remains fresh and that the supplies are brought in properly.”<br/><br/>Valiar had been nodding in time with Seraphim’s words, mentally checking them off a list of things that needed to be done.  “That sounds about right.”  He paused, cocked his head to one side, and then looked puzzled.  “If they’re doing all that, what are<span style="font-style: italic">you</span>doing?”<br/><br/>“Making sure everyone stays on track.”  Seraphim replied with a beatific smile, ignoring the suspicious cough from Lethe.  “Also, delegating.  Get your ass to the infirmary.”  She snickered as her fellow Knight threw his hands up in the air but complied, heading towards the tent marked with the Cleric sign.<br/><br/>With a final cough, Lethe looked away from the mock irritated Valiar.  Trust him to keep things light hearted.  She could hear some of the other Knights who’d seen the interchange chuckling.<span style="color: silver">“Leon left a message saying Master Guilford was looking for me?”</span><br/><br/>“Ah, yeah, he should be..” Seraphim pointed at one of the houses on the Northern side of the townsquare.  “Over there, I believe.  Found him passed out by the supplies so I dropped him off somewhere he could sleep in relative peace.  I think he was looking for cookies?”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “He always did have a sweet tooth.”</span>Lethe muttered under her breath, prompting another snicker from her squadmate.<span style="color: silver"> “Alright, I’m off to see what he wanted.”</span><br/><br/>“Sure thing.  YunQiao’s where you left him, by the way.  They’ve made a mini camp over there to investigate everything they find.”<br/><br/>Lethe lifted a hand in acknowledgment but was already walking away.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>Lethe entered the house, eyes blinking as they readjusted to the dim lighting of the room.  The room was pretty bare and there, dumped ungraciously on the ground was her fellow Seraph.  Seraphim had been kind enough to give him a blanket but not generous enough to haul bedding over for him.  Kneeling on the ground beside him, Lethe reached out to shake Guilford’s shoulder.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"mmmmnnn..."</span>Guilford mumbled, turning to the other side. The floor was cool, the much needed sleep a welcomed blessing.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Blueberry... cheesecake..."</span>he continued in his sleep.<span style="color: #0080FF">"would be... fine..."</span><br/><br/>Her hand met her face before she could stop herself.  Lights above..<span style="color: silver"> “Gil… there’s no blueberry cheesecake.”</span>She shook her head, knowing he couldn’t hear her.  She leaned over, placing one hand on the ground to stabilize herself, as she shook his shoulder once more.<span style="color: silver">“Gil. Wake up.”</span><br/><br/>The kind baker was just about to hand Gil the requested Blueberry cheesecake when the whole world began to shudder, growing stronger into a violent earthquake until everything went bright. Gil opened his eyes slowly, blinking once, twice and then some to clear his vision. There was no blueberry cheesecake.  Was it the baker or...<span style="color: #0080FF">"L-Lethe?"</span>he croaked in surprise when the blur of white cleared into his fellow Seraph.<span style="color: #0080FF">"You're back.."</span>he grunted while pushing himself to sit.  Almost immediately, his hands came up to rub the sleep off himself as the blanket he didn't have earlier fell freely to his lap.<span style="color: #0080FF">"How long was I out?"</span><br/><br/>She sat back on her heels now that Gil was awake, glad she didn’t need to resort to threatening him with Daria to get him up.  There was a bittersweet pang at the memory of her old squadmate but she ignored it.<span style="color: silver">“I have no idea,”</span>she answered truthfully,<span style="color: silver"> “I just got back to Santa Olivia.  It’s about quarter past two though, if that helps.”</span><br/><br/>Sighing heavily, Guilford drew a hand down the length of his blue hair. He felt resistance at some point and opted to bring out a comb from his pouch. It was probably not the best thing to do at the moment but Seraphs need to look presentable, always.<span style="color: #0080FF">"A quarter past two..."</span>he parroted while running the comb through his hair before tying it back into a ponytail.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Have you seen Leon?" </span>he asked, shaking the last bit of sleep that desperately clung on to him.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Not yet.  He left a message that I was to come here as soon as possible but he was sleeping by the time I woke.”</span><br/><br/>Thinking back to his last conversation with Leon, he did entrust him with some documents that Hyuga wrote.<span style="color: #0080FF">"I assume you haven't gotten the reports?"</span>he asked, not really expecting a favorable answer. Everyone was tired. Lapses like these can be forgiven. Guilford picked himself up and offered a hand to help the other.<span style="color: #0080FF">"We found an anchor point,"</span>he began.<span style="color: #0080FF">"<span style="font-style: italic">The anchor point.</span>"</span>he followed up discreetly, stressing the words just enough as he said them.<br/><br/>She may have had three hours of sleep but that hardly meant she was at peak performance.  Lethe just stared at him blankly, clearly not understanding what he was trying to get at.<br/><br/>The look of confusion in her blue eyes was undeniable. If only he had the reports in hand. Guilford lowered his voice down after making sure that there were no other knight presence nearby.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Palaugrim's Great Seal,"</span>he whispered.<span style="color: #0080FF">"One of its anchor points is here. I think that was Eve's target all along."</span><br/><br/>Her confusion vanished in an instant to be replaced with surprise and then horror.<span style="color: silver">”What? <span style="font-style: italic">That.</span> Are you sure?”</span>Despite her inquiry, she was replaying everything she knew about the city.  It had definitely been a hub of activity, suggesting something unusual was going on.  Eve<span style="font-style: italic">had</span>randomly shown up for the battle, along with two other demons.  And the city was fairly centered on the island.  But..<span style="color: silver">“But it was first attacked before Eve was even awakened.”</span>She added doubtfully, even as she took Gil’s hand to stand back up.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"Yet there were other demons already loose and enjoying their stay on this island."</span>Gil added, arms folding across his chest as he looked down in thought.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Perhaps it wasn't Eve who found out about it initially,"</span>he hypothesized.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Regardless, the fact that Magnus Vibrations exist in Santa Olivia, followed by Hyuga's discovery of complex seals around town suggests that <span style="font-style: italic">it</span> is indeed here."</span><br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Victorie..”</span>Lethe muttered softly at the reminder.  It could make sense: Santa Olivia had been Sovereign Palaugrim’s first attack in the most recent war.  And they had always fought for these lands.  It was possible the fight hadn’t just been for more territory.<span style="color: silver">“If Hyuga has really seen complex seals, perhaps it is the Great Seal.  We can check later to confirm if they are or are not an anchor point.  However, that this was Eve’s objective..?”</span>She asked skeptically, half in truth and half just to play the devil’s advocate,<span style="color: silver"> “Victorie died before Eve reawakened.  Raim was likewise dead.  Lillith awoke only a few weeks before Eve’s reawakening.  Unless you think Victorie told Lillith who has now told Eve?”</span>It was possible, but then why not attack Santa Olivia sooner?<span style="color: silver"> “Either way, yes, the destruction of his anchor seal would affect the island, but it’s not enough besides causing some bad earthquakes.  There’s no way the Seals were made without redundancies.”</span>Though she didn’t know the specifics to the Great Seals, she trusted the Council to have at least thought of that.  Besides, she’d taken part in setting one of the anchor seals during the Rising, albeit not this one.<br/><br/>Guilford listened intently; Lethe had valid points but all things considered, it wasn't entirely impossible for Eve to target the islands. As Abel said, Eve was meticulous with her moves. It might appear that she was acting randomly, but it was just as likely she was acting with a greater purpose.<span style="color: #0080FF">"My gut tells me Eve has her eyes on the islands."</span>He stood firmly with the thought.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Regardless of how she came to know about <span style="font-style: italic">that</span> matters little now. It wouldn't hurt our side to be cautious,"</span>he concluded.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Besides.."</span>he paused, recalling the previous fight.<span style="color: #0080FF">"That other demon you fought along with that orange haired one?"</span>he continued,<span style="color: #0080FF">"It may just be me but she felt somewhat familiar..."</span>Guilford tried to place a finger on the demon's identity but stopped when he couldn’t figure it out.  There were more important things at hand.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"You're right, earthquakes or not, the destruction of an anchor point may have little effect on the island as a whole, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be vigilant. I don't understand why the Council didn't take action if they knew it was here but the fact remains that this island is in danger."</span>Guilford began pacing around.<span style="color: #0080FF">"If only we knew more about the Great Seals, we could get a better grasp of the true situation. How about we take a look at one of the seal points now?"</span><br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Alright.  I’d like to confirm that it is one of the anchors.”</span>Lethe turned towards the door to walk out.<span style="color: silver">“It’s also possible it’s some random seal that we’ve never heard about.  I don’t think any of us had realized about Luciano and Eve’s seal.”</span>She added a touch bitterly, pausing just outside the door to let her eyes re-adjust to the afternoon brightness.  When she’d regained most of her vision, she headed back into the townsquare.<span style="color: silver">“Seraphim,”</span>The pink haired woman turned away from the squad she was teasing, lifting a hand in greeting.<span style="color: silver">“Have you seen Knight Hyuga from Gil’s squad?”</span><br/><br/>“Hmm.. Nope.  But, Georg might.” Seraphim turned to look for the other man, catching sight of the Knights around her. “Get back to work!” She scolded to the awe-struck group, shooing them off.  When the wide-eyed gaggle finally left, she pointed out the veteran at the center of the command center.  “I’ll just snag him so you two don’t disrupt the others, kay?”<br/><br/>Lethe looked around them as Seraphim jogged off.  There were quite a few sideways glances in her and Guilford’s direction.<span style="color: silver"> “Oh, we found some sin crystals earlier,”</span>She commented softly, trying to break the otherwise awkward moment.<span style="color: silver"> “At least I think they are?  They were still in their boxes and we didn’t want to risk it.”</span><br/><br/>Guilford had turned in her direction at the non sequitur, attention pulled away from the bustle around them.  That’s right, she didn’t’ know about the purified sin crystals Hyuga had found.  He was about to tell her when her second comment caught him off guard.<span style="color: #0080FF">“Boxes?”</span>He repeated in confusion.<br/><br/>This time it was Lethe’s turn to appear chastised.<span style="color: silver">“Did I forget to mention them?”</span>It had been a hectic time in Jenault between Lillith’s rebirth and Brynhildr’s death.  It was possible.. Her mouth slanted into a frown at her oversight.<span style="color: silver"> “Sorry, Gil.  The original sin crystals we found in Jenault were packaged..”</span>She recounted the scarce information her team had pierced together about the boxes as they waited for Seraphim, Georg, and/or Hyuga to return.  Their discussion was interrupted by the appearance of the latter.  The Dreamer’s hair was still slightly mussed and there were dark shadows under his eyes.<br/><br/>“Captain. Master Lethe.”  Hyuga greeted around a wide yawn, “Seraphim said you were looking for me?”<br/><br/>Lethe glanced at her companion, indicating that he should take the lead.  Guilford cleared his throat before speaking to his exhausted knight.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Lethe and I were planning to take a look at one of the seal points. We would appreciate it if you could pinpoint the location of the nearest one here."</span>He handed Hyuga a map of Santa Olivia that he had procured during the walk.<br/><br/>The other man took the map and began looking for the nearest point based off recollection alone. It took him a while but his pen finally moved to mark a specific spot to the north side of town. "This one should be the closest," the Dreamer said with confidence, returning his Captain's map. "Though I must say," Hyuga started, "I've never seen seals like these my entire life. I spent the whole morning trying to trace their origin but..." A dumbfounded look covered his face before he sighed in defeat. "The lack of information about the runes used on them is just far too great. It's like trying to read ancient writing that nobody had ever even seen!" He complained before scratching his head in thought.  Red eyes scanned the two Seraphs in front of him: "While I don't doubt your intellect Captain, Master Lethe," he looked back at the map before glancing at them again, not wanting to sound rude or anything, "But I highly doubt that even you two could make something of it." he admitted bluntly. "Perhaps with an expert?" he ended suggestively, eyes gleaming with hope.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"You’re saying <span style="font-style: italic">you're</span> that expert? And that we should bring you along is that it?"</span>Guilford asked, seeing Hyuga responding immediately with an assertive nod. The blue haired Seraph chanced a look at Lethe before returning his gaze to Hyuga.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Sorry Hyu, I'm going to have to say no. Get some rest, you look awfully tired."</span><br/><br/>The black-haired man visibly deflated.  He really wanted to see those seals again!  And maybe Captain or Master Lethe could shed some light from their experiences.  But if Captain said no.. “Alright..” he conceded gloomily, handing the map back..<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Good job on finding these, Knight Hyuga.”</span>Lethe added encouragingly with a smile, unable to stop at such a downtrodden look.  The man perked up a bit but still walked away slouched.  She looked after him regretfully, but if the seal really was one of the anchor seals, there was no way she could let him see it.  Instead, she looked towards Guilford and the map in his hand.<span style="color: silver">“Shall we?”</span>