"So you met Captain Tsubaki, huh?" asked the clergyman.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypGzNafNo0
"Wait, you know him?" responded Eva in question.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9jVyIQibV
"Most people here in Mumei know of him," stated the young priest. "He fought in the Great War and now serves under good King Aredor, after all."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfO1okSMdTg
"Woah..." breathed Eva. I'm quite surprised. He looks so young."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVUvZlgaq6
"Yes, he does. However, I suppose most Faerith Leid look youthful in comparison to a human."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvOZjPJK7eI
"Wait, how do you know I'm human?" she asked.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWc40GZJrEV
"Well..." began the clergyman. "You're from Aleilyo, but you carry no significant aspects of the nymph and naiad creatures from that country."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFN8TJAP0E
"But, how do you know where I'm from...?"
The young clergyman laughed heartily.
"I'm surprised you trusted me so easily, Miss Evangelique," said he. "You don't even know my name, and you hardly seem suspicious of me."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfszY8pSAV
"Uhm, yes, well..." fumbled Eva. "I suppose it's just that-"386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aW56BYCdq
"Do you suppose you can trust me because I'm a Hitsujikai?" interjected the young priest.
Evangelique stopped her walking. Snow clung to her boots as her movements halted.
"You shouldn't be too trusting of who I am, just because I am wearing the garments of a man who has vowed to teach Elohim's words," he began.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPA1uVC9gR
"There are many wolves who dress as I who preach falsely and many snakes who commit heinous crimes, yet act as if they have done no wrong."
The young priest looked at her with a soft smile.
"Even one such as I have committed evil deeds."
Evangelique choked on her breath and began to cough. She was taken aback by his sentence.
"Ah, miss, are you okay?!" asked the young clergyman, worried.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYlswcwpnx
"Y-Yeah..." replied Eva. "Do you tell everyone you meet that?"386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwQaHTe2ME
"Oh!" exclaimed he. "Uhm...not usually. Or rather, not like I just did."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlACOhMFeP
"Then why did you tell me that so abruptly?"386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxMxzpU0DS
"Ah...well..."
He turned his gaze away from her, awkwardly as he lifted his right hand to his head to touch the back of his neck.
"That's because you're a part of my team," he stated. "I suppose I just needed you to know that."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWK5OkMO2O
"Wait," replied Eva. "So, if you're a part of my team..."
Evangelique recalled her fellow teammate, Cyril, talking about a team member who wasn't there to welcome her.
"You're the guy who worries that he'll worry his wife!!" exclaimed Eva, pointing at him.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAylVpYxYcO
"So that's what they've decided to coin me as..." replied the young priest, slightly embarrassed. "Did they tell you my real name?"386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRecHMq103r
"Ah, yes!" said Eva. "It was Ago, correct?"386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF45VAx7RT8
"Yes, that's right, Sister Evangelique," responded the clergyman, Ago.
Evangelique looked at Ago, puzzled.
"Sister Evangelique?" asked Eva.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aArQO5UT4
"Ah, I usually call my teammates and those I hold dear my brothers and sisters," replied Ago. "I apologize if that is a bit strange to you."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwVAVASyPs
"No, no, it's quite alright!" assured Eva. "I don't have any siblings, so it feels nice to know someone in this world calls me family."
She looked at Ago, who looked ahead with a peaceful smile. She gasped.
"Just a moment," began Eva. "But does that make me the big sister or little sister? You are very young looking, after all."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuK87TwEusY
"Haha..well, that's very kind of you," replied Ago. "But you see, I'm 36 years of age..."386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsmznn73vu
"No way!" responded Eva, taken aback once more. The priest looked more like he was 18 years old rather than 36. "How is that possible?! You are human, right?"386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qKJYS2WLU
"Y-Yes...I'm human, but I don't like talking about why I look so young..."
He laughed shyly, and Eva prepared to say another thing.
As they walked onwards in the snow, the day died down, but their conversation grew, much like the flickering flames in the lampposts around them.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCr9GiA7lRY
386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8BckOTTIV
In the night, Eva sat in her room, brushing her hair. She had eaten dinner with all her teammates, except for Ago, who said he had to get home so he wouldn't worry his wife (or rather, so he wouldn't be so anxious about worrying her).386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIdmfTHkB8
After their meal, they all talked together as if they had known each other for a long time.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTON05ywdw
Yasha and Althia shared information on the latest events going on in their work. Augustine rambled about a strange, scientific theory and in order to stop him, Cyril sang a tune he had composed only a few days before.
'I'm so surprised by how kind everyone is...′ thought Evangelique.
She sighed out of contentment and sat upon her bed. The golden camellia rested on her nightstand, still glowing. Evangelique picked it up and held it close to her.
She remembered the young man she met.
Tsubaki.
His heart was in despair, and now, Eva had a better understanding of why.
'It's so hard losing someone special to you...' thought Eva, empathetically. 'And to have to take their responsibilities must make it even worse.'
Evangelique's mind wandered through an ocean of thoughts.
Who did Tsubaki lose? A family member? Lover, perhaps?
Why of all people was she chosen to become a Lieutenant beside him?
How was she to balance her responsibilities as a teacher and a Lieutenant?
Now knowing that she had received the Hamadryad powers she had lost before, what was she to do?
Evangelique's mind began to drift, her words inside becoming like the sound of peaceful waves.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDQgrKu4FQ
Lying down in her bed, she felt her eyelids grow heavier. The pattering of fresh snow against her bedroom window set her at ease.
Holding the golden camellia closer to her chest, Eva began to murmur a prayer. She slowly drifted away, the contents of her prayers becoming unrecognizable to the human ear, but fully heard by Elohim, the one who held her in safety as she slept.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4G4bsaM9o
386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllLYnQHSl1
A scraggly, bearded man laughed coarsely as he ran in the moonlit snow.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29yRz4R9Ng
Close to his chest, he held a glimmering dagger stained with the blood of a once breathing body.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCbGklF1Nk
"There's no way he can haunt me now..." cackled the man.
SLASH!
The metallic sound of a blade flew past the once fleeing man. He let out a shriek as continued running. Three more blades rushed in the wind towards him, one making its way into the man's left shoulder.
"GAH!" coughed out the man, falling to his knees.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCVCJIJuDw
"You lack of strength surprises me," said a gentle yet chilling voice.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf79Hig4qMH
"Y-You!" spat out the man.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRObdfEA2z
"You must know, you have committed an unforgivable crime, according to the law," said the chilling voice, ignoring the scraggly man.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgNEPpT12E
"B-But you can kill me, can you?!" cried out the man. His eyes were wide and deranged. 386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWCIOKTDXM
"I'm not taking down an innocent man, so I have no qualms concerning your death," replied the voice. He took out a sword from the scabbard on his right hip. It glistened in the moonlight as it was raised up into the air.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVATZaDJbC
Shortly after being raised, the blade fell, and a sickly scream crawled out of the man's mouth.386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0c2RtO62B
Blood trickled, dying the snow red. In the light of the moon, the blood was as bright as blooming roses.
Traumatized eyes looked up, surprised by the agony that coursed through its body. The silent and cold figure loomed over the body, staring at it with sharp eyes of regret and disgust.
Was it still worth it to try and stay alive?386Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1FcjJCYuL
