“There’s… So little that any of us can really say about her, I’m afraid, Yuri.

“You met her worlds away, somewhere in China, with only Zhuzhen—may he rest in peace—and Margarete to accompany you, but even then, her discussions with Margarete were scarce, I’ve heard. She far preferred you and Zhuzhen to talk to, the both of them being exorcists, as it were. To the rest of us, she was nothing more than the sweet-natured cleric of our travelling party. We all confided in her, to be certain, but received nothing of that treatment ourselves. Your Alice was an enigma, I’m afraid.

“And… Then there were her actions in my castle, the Blue Castle of Bistritz. She was so… Terribly slow to realize that you and Seraphic Radiance were lodging there, but when she finally did come to notice, she was incredibly forceful about my letting her see you. I told her that it would be dangerous, that you were ferocious, thanks to our fair goddess being extremely riled at the time, but she paid no heed to my advice, kept pressuring Zhuzhen and I to bring her to you. And when we did reach you, she kept holding back in battle, trying to talk to you and wake your soul from its slumber. When we brought you down, she collapsed too, crying, before suddenly keeling over unconscious… After that night, she slept, more and more, coughing, like an old, sick woman. During our final battle, she fainted repeatedly, unable to stay conscious for any length of time… Then, after we parted ways a few days later, the two of you left to find your way to Zurich, and see her mother. If what I’ve heard is correct, she died on the train while you were passing through France. I’ve heard rumors that you dug her grave with your own hands.” On and on and on and on… You’d think that Alice was some kind of saint from how Keith praised her, telling tales of how she’d once bested a witch on her lonesome through her purity alone, and how she once saved the soul of an innocent child from hell with the strength of her will… It made me feel sick from how sweet and kindly she was touted to be. How could anyone really be so nice? But still, Yuri sat, drinking it up, enamored with Keith’s description of his late girlfriend. What made her better than me, anyway? I mean… For crying out loud, she was a murderer! Yuri’s accomplice in slaughtering my village!

“And… Did I do anything for her?’ Well, there was one thing, at least—Yuri seemed to think himself inadequate for his precious Alice, a feeling that certainly raised my chances with him. Guilt always was a great way of turning people off each other. But would it be enough to keep Yuri from the charms of Alice’s ghost?

“You saved her life, many, many times, and kept her hope alive.” But what would all those sentiments do for Yuri, who was so clearly sickened by the thought of leading her to her death?

“I… See…” Nearby, the door clicked open, a young, blonde girl, clad in black and pink, walking through, with a familiar red-haired man in tow.

“Ah, Hildegard!” Standing up from his seat at our table, Keith walked over to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling at me, her grin widening as she looked at my hands. Were my gloves really that special? “Michelle, this is my little sister, Hildega—“

“Call me Hilda. Bro’ here can’t seem to get it through his head that some of us like nicknames.” Walking towards me, Hilda took my hands and pulled me to my feet, smiling as she did so. “My, you’ve got very nice taste, Michelle!”

“Oh?” My faced tinged with red at her words. It looked like someone actually appreciated my clothes for once, rather than insulting them (plain my ass, Yuri). “I didn’t actually choose them. To be honest, it was my adoptive mother.”

“Ah, but Michelle, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re gorgeous!” Fingering absently at the lace around my wrists, she giggled, before sitting down where Keith had been before and glancing to Joachim.

“Brother, you haven’t met Seraph yet, have you?” Motioning to the smiling goddess, Hilda winked rather unsubtly. She was clearly rather fond of him, despite having only spent two hours, at the most, with him.

“No, no I haven’t.”

“I suppose I should introduce myself, then.” Bowing to Joachim, ‘Raph’s human façade wavered for a moment, showing his true form—the beautiful, red-winged goddess, Seraphic Radiance. Standing upright again, he chuckled as Joachim’s face began to display a puzzled expression.

“Yuri, Michelle, is your companion some kind of shapeshifter?” I laughed, before Yuri could even get his head around the question.

“No, Joachim, Seraph here is a goddess.” Taken aback, Joachim looked suspiciously to ‘Raph for confirmation.

“I could prove it, if you really want me to.” The goddess’ reply was nonchalant, as he fell back onto a nearby stool at a table separate from ours.

“No… No… I’ll take your word for it.” Settling back into his seat, Joachim looked to his brother for continuation of his appraisal of Alice.

“Hm. Well, as I was saying before Seraph and Hildegard returned, Yuri, you were a most fitting companion for Alice. She felt as indebted to you as you do to her, as it were, and I’m sure she would be upset if she were to see you doubting the validity of your relationship now.” Reaching over the table and placing his hand upon Yuri’s, Keith smiled as reassuringly as he could with his vampiric teeth.

“Sure.” Unconvinced, and his voice laden with sarcasm, Yuri snatched his hand away, bringing an upset face to the purple-clad vampire.

“Really, Yuri, I wouldn’t lie.” Looking hurt, Keith bunched his hands into fists. “Alice adored you, and she would’ve done anything for you, as would you have for her.”

“Then why didn’t I save her?!” Jerking to his feet, Yuri barked his words, before looking off at the floor.

“Yuri—“

“Shut it, Keith!” Striking out at the air beside him with one fist, Yuri stomped out of the bar, slamming the door loudly behind him. As though coming unfrozen, Keith suddenly slumped onto the table, a grimace present on his face.

“Really, why won’t that boy believe me?” Mumbling into the tabletop, Keith gently struck it with one fist, Joachim leaning over to pat his back.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Getting to his feet, Seraph began to walk towards the door, looking bored.

“Where are you going?” I asked him, beginning to follow after, the vampire siblings seemingly uncaring to how we were moving to leave.

“To find Yuri and talk some sense into him.” ‘Raph replied, extending a hand out to me. “I guess you’re coming too?”

“Of course.” Taking ‘Raph’s hand, he pulled the both of us out of the bar, only Hilda waving goodbye as we left, the other Valentines too busy trying to comfort each other. Pulling me away from the shop, Seraph stopped in the middle of the courtyard, wrapping his arms around me and plucking me off the ground.

“I sense that Yuri’s gone flying somewhere. We’ll need to follow him in the same way.” A white light surrounding Seraph, he turned back into the goddess he was meant to be. “Hold on.” Pressing off the ground, she catapulted us into the air, flapping her wings lazily to gain height.

“Feel anything about where he is?” The goddess nodded.

“He’s out to the north.” Motioning to a wide expanse out ahead, Seraph went higher and higher into the sky, beginning to move forwards through the air at great speed. Her four wings beating in perfect time, ‘Raph looked far more focused than normal, as though she was in her element. “We’re going to dive soon.” She warned me after a few moments.

“Okay.” Clinging onto her tighter, she plummeted out of the sky like an eagle hunting its prey, as a black spot appeared on the horizon before us. Closing in on it, I noticed it was one of Yuri’s demon forms, a hulking, black-winged humanoid, with armor-like plating on its skin.

“Yuri!!” Seraph yelled, twisting herself around to loop in front of him. “Yuri, what are you doing?! Come back to Le Havre with us!!” Twisting his head to look at us, Yuri stared for a few moments, before pulling his wings into a different direction, aiming to fly towards the ocean.

“Yuri!!” Grimacing in anger, Seraph charged after him, my grip on her tightening even more as she shot ahead to catch up with our friend. Noticing us behind him, Yuri dove straight down, pulling his wings in against himself, plummeting like a rock. Following immediately after him, I gulped as my stomach shot up inside me. How did these two pull stuff like this off without being sick? Slowing our descent by opening her wings out, not far from the ground, both Seraph and I breathed a sigh of relief as Yuri stopped trying to run, and instead landed, transforming back into himself. Touching down a few meters from him, Seraph returned to her male, human form, folding her arms as she did so. “What was the big idea, running away from us?” Silence. Slumping down on the ground, Yuri scowled at ‘Raph.

“What, you’re not going to talk now, Yuri?” Taking a step forwards, ‘Raph dug his feet down hard with each step.

“… It’s my fault.” Though quiet, Yuri’s words were so strong that it was almost impossible not to hear them. “It’s my fault you’re all living like this.” Slamming his fist down into the dirt, he drew in a sharp breath of air.

“What do you mean?” I inquired, causing Yuri to glance at me with an accusing look on his face.

“What do you mean, she asks. What do you mean? Come on, Mish, I killed your parents, you said so yourself.” Bending down onto my knees, I crawled over to Yuri.

“I never said that, I never did, you know that.”

“Yes you did. You always say it. I’m nothing but a filthy killer in your eyes, you know it, you—“

“Would the both of you please shut up!!” ‘Raph’s voice took a commanding tone that would make even the roughest felon in a prison stand at attention. Clutching his hands in tight fists, he strutted tensely towards Yuri and I. “Yuri!! You idiot!! Nothing is your fault!! You’re just blaming yourself because you’re a pessimistic fool who refuses to let people in!!” Looking down to the ground, Yuri went limp.

“And Michelle, don’t provoke him. You know as well as the rest of us that you’re winding him up, saying you don’t blame him for your village. That’s a blatant lie, and you know it.” Staring me down like a mother scolding a child, Seraph’s smile hinted that he wasn’t as angry at me as he tried to make it seem.

“But, I…”

“No buts, Yuri. You’re not at fault for anything yet; you have no proof to say you are. Wait until we reach Paris, and talk to that friend of yours, Margerete. Innocent until proven guilty, okay?” His tone warming, Seraph reached out one hand to pull Yuri up, a hand which Yuri took gratefully. “Good. I’m happy to see that we can all act our age around here.” Turning to look out at the distance, a smirk grew on the goddess’ face.

“Now, while I’m not usually one for disappearing without warning, we have just made about ten minutes progress towards Paris. Who’s up for getting a move on?” Even though I felt bad about leaving the Valentines so suddenly, my hand involuntarily stretched up. Yuri’s made a similar movement.

“Cool. Let’s get going, then.” Without a moment’s warning, Seraph swept me into his arms, and pressed off into the air, followed closely by Yuri. “Next stop, Paris!” Letting out a hoot of excitement, Seraph threw himself in a loop as he returned to his natural form. Casting a glance back at Yuri, I gave the tiniest of smiles.

“Fingers crossed that Paris doesn’t unlock your heart…” Allowing my eyes to drift close, I let the even, soothing sound of Seraph’s wing-beats send me straight to sleep, beyond caring that the sun was still visible in the horizon.