Mars grinned and closed her eyes. "Isn't that the truth...I don't know what I'd do without this family."

...

She jolted and nearly spilled her beverage, realizing that she had started to nod off. "Dangit!" She finished the cocoa in her hand and yawned when she set the empty mug down. "I wanted to wait until everyone got home but I'm fading so fast, and it's barely even sundown." She whined childishly, failing to realize the toll of healing magic on her energy. "If today weren't so darn dangerous it wouldn't be such a big deal. Are either of you this tired?" she asked, rubbing her eyes as she found herself torn between slumber and worry.


Silas slowly leaned back from his kneel to sit down just slightly farther away from the masked silhouette who, unbothered by their half-drenched clothes, loomed over the two angels. As Silas moved, the stoic stranger's glare followed. The hostile presence paralyzed him, but at last he managed to take a breath. "We're looking for a crystal that can traverse time."

"Why?"

"I lost the two people that meant the most to me. One was a mortal I cared for, and after I left, he..." Silas swallowed hard. "After I left, he took his life. The other was my best friend, and I lost him today." He stopped and closed his eyes. "If there's anything that I could do to bring them back―"

"A lie," the being accused. Silas glared and gritted his teeth, furious. A soft splash distracted him a moment later. As he looked, another robed person waded through the water. Their petite figure showed almost no marks of battle. Stray locks of long white hair spilled from between their mask and loosely-fastened hood. They bore a small compound bow on their back with a quiver of arrows that twinkled with shinigami metal. Silas recognized the glimmer from the being that was previously atop the cliff, yet they had somehow maneuvered to the shore as if it were only a short hop away.

"No," a feminine voice cooed as she nimbly approached. The stoic stranger leaned slightly in her direction as if to insist their attention despite their fixation on the enemy angels. "That's him, the veteran guardian that knew Jason by name," her mesmerizing voice continued. "He called his companion Arael, but I don't recognize him. They crash landed together a few minutes ago but they don't have flight gear. If they were disingenuous then the depths would have drowned them, I think. The sea seems to believe they're rogue."

The stoic stranger waited. If the two of them looked less like death itself it would have been a peaceful silence between the murmur of the shore and river, but to Silas it was an eternity of fearful anticipation. "Is this true?" the tall warrior asked at last.

"If we turn back now we would be as good as dead," Silas confessed. "We might be anyway if we can't find the crystal or if law enforcement finds us first. And with this wing injury I don't know if we'll be able to avoid either of those problems." The truth of their vulnerability sent a chill down his spine. He began to shiver in his soaked clothes.

"Though the sea may trust you, there are other barriers that protect this hallowed ground," the warrior explained. "We will not weaken them, but we can give you the strength to pass through. Passage will require energy for a blood promise and sunlight, however, neither of which are plentiful here now. In honor of the invitation of the sea, you..." the voice paused. Silas blinked. For a moment, their silence seemed as if in conflict with their own mind. "You may seek shelter with us tonight."

The masked girl abruptly turned toward the warrior, visibly taken aback. The warrior turned to her as much. "Gwen, would you please prepare our return?"

"Y-yes," she stammered. She looked across the water and beckoned seemingly to no one, though Silas remembered there was at least one other masked figure with them. Then, she nimbly moved past the two of them and took off into the grassy forest.

The warrior turned to Arael. "Arael, are you able to walk? If not, I can carry you."