A couple more days have passed since Mei's dinner. Asuka was in the middle of her training, with Ichigo monitoring her closely. Her white and gold tunic clung to her swest-soaked body, black pants and brown boots coated in dust. Long onyx hair even stuck to her flushed face. She sat against the tree gasping for air, her broken training sword beside her.
"You lasted longer than you did last week. I'd say you're about a quarter of the way to regaining all of your stamina."
Asuka did not reply immediately still trying to regain her breathe.
"It sure... doesn't feel... that way..."
"I know. But trust me. Your control has gotten for better. You might even be better than you were before."
The girl smiled when she heard that.
"That's good to hear. Nice to know my suffering has benefits," she said sarcastically.
"In fact," Ichigo continued, "I think you've been doing so well, that you deserve a vacation."
Those words brought Asuka out of her exhaustion. She snapped her neck in Ichigo's direction, shock overwhelming from the girl.
"Are you serious? You're not messing with me, right? Please tell me you're not joking."
As far back as she could remember she had never been on vacation before. But she heard many stories from Thalia about the beaches and circuses she went to. The thought of finally experiencing something like that filled her with excitement.
"Now don't get your hopes up too much. You're not going to be playing around. We'll be going to Caeliora. The emperor wants to discuss the infiltration mission and go over the plan with you personally."
"Really? I'll get to go to Caeliora?"
Despite hearing that this 'vacation' was not for pleasure, Asuka was non the less ecstatic.
"I've never been to a luxurious city, much less the royal capital!"
Ichigo let out a sigh seeing Asuka was still excited.
"Yeah, well you won't be able to enjoy much of it. We'll only be there for how ever long the meeting is. It wouldn't be good to linger."
Asuka tilted her head in confusion.
"Why is that?"
Asuka noticed the conflict inside of Ichigo, unsure if he should tell her the truth.
"Remember when we talked about the Nephilim and the Seraphim."
"Yeah?"
"The people of the capital and majority of the people of the continent still believe the Nephilim to be a great evil. And the people of the capital know about me. Seeing you with me will only make you share that burden."
Understanding now, her excitement dimmed and concern was replaced on her face.
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to have the meeting somewhere more private."
"Yes. But, unfortunately he isn't one to listen to reason."
"Well, it doesn't matter. All I gotta do is bear with it right. Plus, so what if they hate me? It's not as if they could ever hope to harm me," Asuka said forcing a chuckle.
"Are you sure? No matter how strong you are, you are still a child. It might be too much for you to bear."
"Oh c'mon master. If I can't handle this, how will I ever hope to bring peace to the world."
Asuka was braver than most of her age mates. Even more than most adults even. But facing the hatred of people she was supposed to be saving is a different kind of suffering she has yet to experience. And she knew that. So it was obvious to Ichigo that the girl was putting on a brave face.
But he knew that there was truth to her words. So he decided not to try and discourage the girl.
"Okay then." He said with a sigh. "We'll be leaving in a few days. And you don't need to prepare much so don't pack anything."
"How come?"
"We'll be travelling by foot. So do your best to keep up."
~
"Can't believe I'm stuck here doing these boring jobs meant for rookies when all I did was talk to some girl."
The speaker was a burly, rough-looking man with messy brown hair and a thick beard. His stained white shirt was open at the chest, revealing coarse hair, and his sleeves were rolled up. He wore black pants and heavy boots, sitting on the front of a large wooden carriage pulled by two horses. He also carried a long leather whip on his waist.
Each horse had a rider in their late teens, both struggling to endure the strong stench of alcohol radiating from the man.
They traveled along a rocky forest road.
"Hey! I'm talking to you, you bastards! Don't you think it's stupid how I'm stuck here babysitting?"
Both boys shivered when they heard the man address them. At first neither spoke, but soon the one on the left with short black hair, stammered out a reply.
"W-well... um... you did try to... um... sleep with the Bishop Sebastian's woman."
The burly man's gaze turned sharp and murderous. The boy flinched, causing his horse to rear up and throw him off. He crashed face-first onto the rocky path.
The commotion startled the other horse, which reared violently and flung its blond rider into the air. He landed with a loud crack, his skull shattering against a stone. His limp body collapsed, and a small watch fell from his hand. It clicked open, revealing a child's drawing of the boy holding hands with a smiling little girl.
All the chaos caused the carriage to shake. Or, a more proper term would be the cage. From the inside screams of fear could be heard.
"HEY! STAY QUIET SUDA!" The burly man exclaimed, banging on the wooden cage.
He then hopped off the cage and using anima, forced the horses to submission. They bowed their heads and slowly laid on the ground. The man looked over to the blond boy and knew he had died.
"Tch. How troublesome."
He stormed over to the black haired boy who spoke and grabbed him by the collar.
"You brainless fuck," he growled, "Do you know what you've done."
His oppressive aura began to crush the boy. His eyes began to roll back and his consciousness was fading. But then the man took a deep breath and released the boy.
"Get up. We need to dispose the bo-"
"Huh, so there was some people here."
Both of the men snapped to direction of the sound. There, they saw a girl and a man emerge from the forest. They took a quick look around and their looks of curiosity grew serious.
"What the hell is going on here?" The girl demanded.
Both men remained quiet for moment before the burly man began to speak.
"Get out of here. This is none of your damn buisness," he snarled.
He then stood and walked over to the duo, towering over them.
"So I suggest you get movin'."
Ignoring the man, the girl looked over at the cage and began to walk over to it.
"Hey! Where the hell are you going?"
She didn't stop. The man poured anima into his legs and lunged at her, reaching for her cloak. But before he could grab it, something shot out from beneath it and jabbed upward, striking him under the chin and sending him sprawling.
Without looking back, she made her way towards the back of the cage. The door was chained shut so she ripped them off. Opening the door, she saw six people inside. One man. Three women. Two children.
Chained. Beaten. Starved. They looked like they were already dead, especially the man. Maybe it would be merciful if they were.
The girl did her best to not let the smell of rotting flesh get to to her. She forced a calm, caring smile on her lips.
"It's okay now," she said softly, her voice calm despite the horror. "You're safe now."