Berlin, Germany

"Land!" Ethan rejoiced, dropping down to the ground and kissing the pavement outside of the airport. Nephilum rolled his eyes as he put on a Nike baseball cap.

"Was that seriously the first time you went on a plane, Ethan?" He asked, pulling some stray hair out from beneath the cap.

"Yeah, your point is?"

"Never mind then," he then took off the cap and put it on backwards momentarily before switching it back to its previous position. Hanna set down her luggage and stretched.

"Berlin again," she said to herself, "I never expected to see it so soon." Sophie placed her luggage down next to Hanna's.

"So what do we do now?" She asked, nervously, it was still uncomfortable to be talking to someone was shooting guns at you a few days prior. Nephilum examined his watch, which had both manual clock hands and a digital display so he could tell both civilian and military time.

"First we need to find a hotel. I've been to Berlin before so I know a place that should be well off of anyone's radar. Now all that we have to do is raise a taxi." And he added as an afterthought: "the Irish boy is paying the fare."

"What! No way!" Ethan exclaimed from the ground, "What makes me the official piggy bank?"

"Your less-than-satisfactory reaction to flying economy class does more than suffice as the reason. Besides, do you want to pay for the shopping fee too?"

"Wha- shopping fee? What do you mean by that?" Then he looked at the girls that accompanied them and said: "Oh, okay I'll pay fare."

Hotel, later

"How on Earth can you pay for this place?" Sophie looked as though she would faint. They were in the penthouse of a hotel not far from the airport. It was spacious and comfortable, with a good sized kitchen, an extremely large family area, and two bedrooms with accompanying water closets.

"Who cares how Nephilum pays for this," said Ethan, dropping onto the sofa. "This-is-the-life!"

"This isn't a vacation," Nephilum reminded them, coming out of one of the bedrooms wearing a different change of clothes.

"Oh my gosh!" Sophie gasped in utter amazement but Hanna was simply startled by the sight.

Nephilum had removed his dark garb in exchange for a t-shirt that appeared to be a little bit big for him and loose-fitting cargo pants, all colored bright white. The only bit of black that did appear on him was his hair, now free and hung down to his neck without any obstruction. He caught Hanna's eyes for a moment, making her cheeks warm up. Nephilum simply shrugged, head tilted to one side and hands open and facing forward.

"What?"

"Uh…" Hanna felt her cheeks grow even warmer for some reason. "Nothing." She looked away, gazing instead at the city of Berlin, her thoughts reminiscing on the events of the past.

Why?…Why did it have to be here? She wondered silently before sitting down in a chair and closing her eyes.