3 days passed

"H-here s-sister Lucy..." A young boy nervously hands in a small daisy to Lucy's surprise. It was for the first time that a child had approached her. She never thought a day would actually come, much less receive a gift.

"G-get well soon!" Adam shouted as if he was trying to erase the nervousness in his heart. Lucy stared at the boy for a moment then at the flower before finally responding.

"T-thank you, Adam." Lucy replied as the boy's eyes widened for a moment before retreating with all haste.

Lucy watched the small figure disappear as he turned to a corner of the hallway. "You remember." Lucy jumped as she turned to see Rose smiling from ear to ear. Her smile looked brighter than usual as Lucy awkwardly asked.

"R-remember what?" Lucy asked as Rose replied with her usual easy-going tone.

"Why, his name of course!" Rose explained as Lucy looked even more confused. "I'm impressed you took the time to remember his name out of all the children." Rose said as Lucy hid the flower.

"He is the one who Emma saved you know?" Rose said as Lucy slowly nodded back.

"I see..." Lucy replied as Rose patted her shoulder.

"Come now, is that all? The poor lad must have gathered insurmountable courage to give that flower you know?" Lucy flinched as Rose's eyes widened in realization.

"Ah... sorry... I forgot that they-"

"No... it's alright..." Lucy replied as she looked down at the daisy again. The small flower inside her clothes was so small yet it felt so heavy. A small smile crept up on her face as Rose looked back in surprise.

"It's a start right?" Lucy whispered as she pointed at the small flower. Rose also smiled back in reply as she nodded eagerly.

"That's right Lucy, this is indeed a fresh start. We can always start with the small things you know?" Rose smiled as Lucy turned her head slightly, hiding her reddening cheeks.

Rose looked in confusion at first, but a mischievous grin soon stretched out from her face. "Aww, are you shy? Is our little Lucy shy?" Rose teased as Lucy only reddened further.

"... I'm not little... I'm older than you..." Rose laughs at her weak retort.

"Anyways, how's your body holding up?" Rose asked as her gaze landed on the bandages. Her right shoulder and right leg took most of the space as it was the most grievous wound, yet it took barely a week for Lucy to walk by again.

"...Could be worse..." Lucy replied.

"Are you feeling nauseated? Do you sometimes feel your senses suddenly rising higher than usual?" Lucy pondered the inquiry for a moment before replying.

"Now that you mentioned it, I do feel more sensitive sometimes." Lucy replied.

"Is that so? When do you usually feel it?" Rose asked as they turned to a corner.

"Usually at night when I go to bed. My right ear specifically. It is as if I could hear something from afar, though it might just be my head playing tricks on me." Lucy replied as Rose's jaw tightened.

"I see..." Rose whispered, deep in contemplation.

"Anyway, enough of that. There is something I am need to know." Lucy said as she caught Rose by surprise. "Oh? This is a first." Rose smiled mischievously.

"And here I thought there was nothing in the world that caught your interest! So do tell me and this big sister will help you!" Rose proudly proclaimed as Lucy hesitated to speak.

Her eyes moved from side to side, ensuring they were alone. In a quiet voice, Lucy whispered so softly that the wind almost drowned out her voice.

"Are there any news from the monsters?" Rose's face immediately hardened as she sternly stared Lucy in the eyes.

"I thought you promised sister Emma to never lift a weapon again?" Lucy flinched as her eyes widened in shock.

"W-where did you hear that from?" Lucy asked but Rose was quick to cut off her escape.

"Don't avoid the question here, Lucy." Rose warned as Lucy flinched back in surprise.

"Why do you want to know?" Rose asked as Lucy quietly replied.

"I-I have to know what happened to them." Lucy whispered.

"Why?" Rose instantly fired back as she was growing frustrated with her vague answers. "Why do you keep doing this Lucy? Didn't you say it yourself how much you hated fighting?" Lucy did not reply, prompting Rose to continue.

"If you truly do hate fighting then why do you keep searching for it?" Lucy did not reply. "You can have a peaceful life here sister! You can… I just don’t understand." Rose sighed as Lucy did not show any signs of response.

"Why can you not leave this work to the guards? They are trained and experienced in this work more so than you, sister Lucy... sister Lucy, I want to help you, I want to learn more about you, but I can’t do it if you won’t let me… am I not that trustworthy to you?"

Rose saw Lucy flinched at her words. Her small body trembled ever so slightly as if she was shivering in fright. Rose felt bad for the young lady as she watched her struggle to find the answers to her question, but she did not regret her words.

The two stopped dead in the middle of the hallway where no one was around as silence drifted among them. Rose usually would have exited by now, but she needed an answer.

Lucy shifted her gaze back and forth like a guilty sinner. Her hands fumbled around clumsily as if she was trying to muster the courage to speak. Eventually, she manages to whisper out a reply.

"I...I... I can't sleep sister Rose." Lucy whispered in a quiet tone. "T-they are still out there. They... I cannot sleep. What if they come back? What if I am not there if they strike again?" Lucy said as she slowly raises her head.

"Every time I close my eyes... I can see them sister Rose." Lucy spits out the word with venom as she presses onwards. "I can still see them ripping the orphanage apart... their filthy laughter fills the air... I cannot rest even if I want to..." Lucy whispered as her eyes blinked.

Her sapphire eyes glimmered like the crowned jewels themselves as Rose stared back in admiration. There was fear in her eyes but also a strength that Rose had not seen for a long time ever since becoming a nun.

"I have to know. I have to know those bastards will not come after you and the children when I'm gone. If I was not there at that time, they would have..." Lucy tried to spit out the word but could not. The fear in her voice threatened to spill over if she so much speaks of another word.

"...Once, I have lost everything that I held dear that I have taken for granted... there won't be a second time." Lucy replied firmly. Rose stared at those eyes for a moment before letting out a sad smile.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"We are not going anywhere Lucy." Rose smiled but it did nothing to Lucy's unwavering eyes. Seeing this, she let out a sigh as she whispers back in a quiet voice.

"Very well, but before I tell you what I know, promise to tell me whenever you want to go so I can help you." Rose said.

Lucy blinked in confusion at her words as Rose could not help but let out a satisfying smile. "You think you are the only one? The world is small sister Lucy, you'll never know when you meet someone like me." Rose said as Lucy's eyes widened at the realization.

"You can... you can fight?" Lucy asked as Rose ruffled her hair.

"I can swing a sword here and there but that is not what you are after though right?" Rose asked as Lucy snapped back to focus.

"R-right, ahem... so could you tell me?" Lucy asked as Rose smirked.

"And the promise?" Rose asked as Lucy hesitated for a moment before nodding back.

"Very well." Lucy replied as Rose begins to recall her memory.

"As far as I know, most of those freaks have been driven off by the knights." Rose said as Lucy tilts her head.

"The knights?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, the knights from the Larum Dukedom... " Rose paused as she stole a glance from Lucy. She had grown noticeably stiff but did not look affected otherwise.

"I see..." Lucy mumbles as Rose continues.

"As I was saying, they chased the little bastards down to their lair. They reported to have found a large monster tide forming just 10 miles southeast from here. I assumed they reported back and have asked for reinforcements." Lucy's eyes turned hard as Rose turned to face Lucy.

"As I said, let the guards and knights handle this." Rose said as Lucy opened her mouth in rebuttal.

"But they are-"

"What? Weak? And you think you being there would make any difference?" Lucy closed her mouth shut as Rose did not allow her to take a no for an answer.

"It is a monster tide Lucy. Not some small ragtag groups or some growing horde but a full-fledge tide Lucy. There is simply no chance for you to change the odds in our favor just by joining in." Rose remarked as Lucy cast her sight down slightly.

"...Don't worry sister Lucy." Rose added in as they turned to another corner.

"From what I heard, there will be an expedition force with the strength of more than a hundred knights! A hundred knights sister Lucy and that is not even counting the auxiliary forces. I have even heard that the heir himself would join for this expedition. So there really is no need to-!" Rose stopped midway when she saw Lucy blanched. "Are you ok sister Lucy?" Rose asked as she caught Lucy just in time before she falls flat.

"S-sorry, m-my body is still r-recovering." Lucy stuttered as Rose's eyes narrowed to her trembling body.

"Is something wrong sister Lucy?" Rose asked as Lucy replied a second later.

"I-I'm fine, r-really, a-anyways what w-were you saying?"

Rose hesitated as Lucy stared directly into her eyes as her pupils trembled. "Y-you said about the h-heir coming r-right? W-when?" Lucy asked when Rose hesitated. "W-well?!" Lucy’s growing tone made Rose uneasy, but answered nonetheless.

"O-on the morrow at noon.” Rose said, a sharp breath suddenly came from the young nun. Urum’s light! Rose cursed internally.

“Sister Lucy what is-!!!" Rose could not finish her words when she saw Lucy pale even further.

"You are not ok! Tell me sister Lucy! What is going on? Why are you shivering like this??" Rose asked as sweat breaks from her nape.

Lucy seemed to lose focus for a moment as she did not reply. "Is there something you are not telling me sister Lucy? Are you truly not well? Hold on I will call on the-" Rose stopped midway as Lucy suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't..." Lucy whispered... no it was more of a desperate plea that came out of her lips. Rose stood still in shock as Lucy's grip suddenly tightens.

"... Don't tell a-anyone... about this..." Lucy trembled as her hands gripped Rose further.

"Calm down Lucy, tell me first what-"

"I can't go back..." Rose's eyes widen as something dark permeates inside those blue eyes.

The older nun blinked in fear as if she could not believe her eyes playing tricks on her, but it was there. No matter how many times she blinked, it was there.

"I can't go back..." Lucy whispered over and over again as Rose watched in horror as the girl started to break down. "I can't go back... I can't go back... I don't want to go back... Gods no please... I can't go back..." Lucy whispered on and on as if the world had died around her.

"Lucy!" Rose suddenly shouted after when Lucy suddenly collapsed as her legs failed her.

"Get a grip sister Lucy! You have to tell-!" Rose stopped midsentence as Lucy's eyes slowly twisted into fear. Rose could no longer deny something was wrong as Lucy continued.

It was not the fear she used to see. Rose had seen several fears flickered in those eyes from the time she spent with her. There was a fear for the children, a fear for her and the other sisters, but she never had the fear in her eyes of what Rose was looking at now.

Lucy looked utterly terrified for her life. A fear for herself. For someone who fought monsters without flinching for a second, it disturbs Rose to her core to see Lucy trembling in sheer terror for herself.

"Sister Rose? Sister Lucy?" The two turned to see a confused Emma who was holding a laundry basket. Her eyes slowly widened with concern when she saw Lucy's eyes.

The young nun stared in mute horror as she trudges slowly at Emma at first before picking up speed.

"Lucy?” The young lady did not reply as she continued to pick up speed. “Wait Lucy! Lucy calm down!" Rose was forced to pin Lucy to the ground as she tried to charge at Emma.

She suddenly flailed violently on the floor like a fish who was pulled out of the water as she wrestled for control.

"Lucy calm down for a second!" Rose shouted as Lucy refused to listen.

"Lucy please calm down!" Emma shouted but it did little to change the frantic fear in her eyes. "Please dear, stop-"

"H-help me." Lucy begged as she slowly stopped struggling. Her head shakes with difficulty as she tries to look up with her body pinned to the ground. When her eyes finally met theirs, the two gasped in shock as tears streamed down from her face. "H-help me… please…"

As sudden as it came, she regained the vigor once more and thrashed around violently. “L-lucy wait!” Rose tried to reason but the girl was beginning to overpower her.

Not a lick of reason came to Rose’s mind as to how the young lady overpowering her, but she knew what she had to do next.

Leaving with no choice, Rose pinned her down firmly this time as she struck the nerves in her knees, preventing her from harming herself or anyone any further. It should have been painful, but Lucy did not even flinch.

Lucy looked up, terror plaguing her eyes. Emma was visibly shaken when she recognized that look in her eyes. There was a slight difference between then and now, but Emma was certain she had seen it before. It was the same look on the first day they met.

"Please help me..." Lucy weakly cried out as the two met one another's gaze. They did not know what to do as Lucy might charge blindly once again if Rose let go.

"S-sister Lucy please calm down! We will help you. I promise we will, but you have to calm down first. I don’t want to hurt you." Lucy did not reply as she continued to struggle violently.

Emma tried to calm the young lady down, but it was no use. "Come on sister Lucy, you need to-“

"PLEASE!" Lucy wailed louder this time, panic ripe in her voice. The two were utterly at a loss on what to do as Lucy begins to weep once more.

Her guttering cries echoed throughout the halls as several other sisters came to see what was going on. To their shock and horror, Lucy was desperately screaming for help as she continued to resist violently as she cried.

“S-sister Rose! What are you-“

“Stand back!” Rose suddenly cut off as the sisters paused in their tracks, though the look of disapproval did not leave their eyes.

“Sister-“

“L-Lucy is not well now! She might hit you without knowing so please stand back!” The sense of urgency within Rose’s voice made the sisters hesitate, not knowing what to do.

"Sister Rose please get off of her!" A shout suddenly snapped the group out of their daze as they saw Seth came running. His usual calm and collected air seemed to plague in panic when he saw the commotion.

Lucy did not seem to see him as she continued to cry out, weaker this time. "Sister Rose please get off of her right now! You are not helping her!" Seth shouted as Rose shot a confused look.

“B-but-“

“Trust me! Please!” Rose hesitatingly slowly released her grip.

It did not need much force as Lucy broke free and sprinted out aimlessly, directly to Seth. The young man was ready though as he cushioned the impact.

"Please help me... I don't want to go back...” The young lady cried as she clawed desperately at Seth’s clothes.

“I don't want to go back... I..." Lucy continued to cry out weakly as Seth tapped into his reserves. Power courses through his voice.

"Shh, it's ok now. You are safe here. You are safe..." Lucy blinked as tears continued to stream down.

Lucy was on the brink of yelling. Her throat tightened to such a degree that breathing proved to be difficult, but the soothing voice eased that pain slightly. Just enough from making her scream in agony.

The young lady did not seem to realize who did it as Seth slowly coaxed Lucy to be calm with his voice. Lucy blinked again and again, unsure what was happening.

The group stared down in shock as Seth seemingly calmed Lucy down without so much difficulty. Seth caresses her back gently as he continues to whisper in a soft voice. "You have nothing to fear. You are safe here Lucy. You are safe..."

Lucy blinked once more as her face slowly twisted back into pain as she cries. "Shh, it's ok now. It's ok. You can cry all you want. You are safe here. You are safe." Seth whispered as Lucy could only cry harder at his encouragement.

Lucy continued to cry for what seemed to be hours before finally growing weaker and falling asleep. Seth signals for the maids and the sisters nearby to take Lucy back when he realizes she passed out.

As Lucy was being escorted away, Seth turned to the two as he tried to control his temper. "... I have something wished to speak to the two of you earlier, but I guess it will have to wait. Excuse me." Seth said as he turned back and fled before his frustration took place.