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Lilith walked the long, winding tunnels of the Londinium slums. It was very hard to see, so she stumbled often.

"Hello? Is anybody there? Mom? Dad? Vincent?" She called into the darkness. "Ack!" Lilith yelled, tripping on a crack in the floor.

"Grr, stupid tunnels! It’s completely hopeless!" She yelled, crossing her arms. "I wish I were back home..." A small tear slipped down her cheek.

There was a shuffling noise..

"W-Who's there?"

A growl was heard deep within the tunnel. It slowly started to grow louder.

“Crap!” Lilith shouted as she dashed further into the slums. The gelatinous Sylphide was hot on her trail, and would soon catch up to her.

“Oh no, I’ve gotta do something fast! Think, Lilith, think!” She began to frantically search the ground. She spied a flat piece of stone on the floor that must have fallen from the wall.

“Well, it’s worth a shot,” she thought. She lifted it up an found it quite heavy. It was perfect for what she had in mind.

She hid herself in a small alcove and waited for the creature. When it was almost upon her, she climbed out of the alcove and swung the rock at the Sylphide. It struck true into the creature’s stomach. How hard she swung it, coupled with the speed at which the Sylphide was moving caused it to bounce back with a sickening crunch as the beak in its stomach shattered. The dazed creature stepped back, then fell to the floor. It made horrible screeching noises as it writhed on the ground.

“Ha! It worked!” Lilith shouted with a look of triumph on her face. That look quickly faded though when she saw it trying to get back up.

“Uh-oh, I better get out of here quick!” She ran into the tunnels before the Sylphide could return to its feet.

--

“Lilith! Lilith! Where are you!? Liiiliiith!” Jill called. They had been searching the tunnels for many hours without any luck.

“I don’t get it, where is she? We’ve been searching these tunnels forever,” Vincent groaned.

“The tunnels are as large as Londinium itself, she could be anywhere right now…” Esther explained solemnly.

“Well, if we don’t find Lilith, then we’re sure to find a way out of here. Then we can send a search party to find her,” Abel said.

Jill stopped walking. She stared dejectedly down at the floor. “If she’s even still alive…”

“Sister! Don’t say such things! Of course she’s still alive,” Abel said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Despite her delicate exterior, she quite tough, just like her old man! Now, lets continue searchi-ouch!”

Just as he was walking away, Abel tripped and fell on his nose, causing it to bleed slightly.

“Just like her old man, huh?” Esther giggled, helping him up.

“Don’t laugh, Esther! It really hurt! I think I broke it…” Abel whined, wiping a small tear from his eye.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby! It looks fine,” Esther scolded, taking a handkerchief from her pocket and using it to wipe the blood.

Vincent sighed. It never ceased to amaze him how his father could say something hopeful, then screw it up by either tripping, breaking something, or falling into a fountain.

“She’s doomed,” Vincent muttered to himself.

--

“I’m doomed!” Lilith shouted as she ran from the angry Sylphide. After it recovered its wits, it pursued Lilith even faster. It lashed out at Lilith, one of its tentacles latching onto her arm. She screamed as it slowly started to pull her closer. Then it wrapped several of its other tentacles around her body, preventing her from moving.

“Ah, so you’ve caught our beautiful little fraulein,” Isaak said. He walked up to her and looked behind her into the darkness. “I see that she’s alone. A pity, I had hoped that if I found one, I’d find them both. It would seem, though, that my work is not yet finished.”

“You b*****d, leave them alone!” Lilith yelled.

“I’m afraid that I can’t do that, my beautiful prinzessin. Mein Herr also requires your handsome prince as well. However, I don’t need the cute little Sister or the Queen. Well, I suppose that they would make an excellent meal for my Sylphides.”

“Don’t! I’ll kill you if you try!”

Isaak laughed, but there was no mirth in it. “My, my, my, such strong words coming from such a helpless little fraulein. How about you and I make a deal. If you tell me where they are, I might consider sparing them.”

Lilith’s voice grew low, “Don’t you dare touch them.”

Suddenly, Isaak felt the room get a little colder.

“As I said before, I don’t believe you’re in a situation where you can make demands. Well, I’m going to assume that you have no idea where they are. I suppose that my little pets will have to get some exercise before they eat.”

“I said, don’t touch them…” Lilith’s voice began to sound metallic. Her eyes became blood red, her nails sharpened, and white fangs poked out of her mouth. The room grew even colder. Frost began to build up on the floors and walls. Isaak began to shiver slightly.

Soon, the whole room was white with frost and ice. Isaak’s hair began to freeze and his lips turned slightly blue. The Sylphide that had been holding her had been frozen solid. Lilith broke free from its grasp, breaking it into tiny pieces.

“I see…you take water particles in the air and objects and slow down their molecules, freezing them. A Crusnik with ice ability, absolutely beautiful.”

“Die,” Lilith growled. In her hands materialized black throwing knives, two in each hand. She threw one set at Isaak.

However, before the knives could make it to him, he put a barrier in front of him. “Damn, that little ability of hers is quite potent. My body is already getting sluggish. I could barely put up the Shield of Asmoday,” he thought.

“Well, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to cut our little chat short. I have some pressing business to attend to. Goodbye, my little ice princess…”

Isaak put down the barrier, and escaped into the darkness of the tunnels. Before he was safely away though, Lilith threw the other set of daggers. Isaak cried out in pain as the darkness consumed him.

Lilith’s nanomachines began to calm down and her features looked more human. She slid to the floor.

“Shoot, it’s been too long since I’ve fed. I was about to run out of power. But I can’t rest now, I gotta find Vincent and the others!”

She picked herself off the floor and began to search for her lost family and friend.

--

Isaak hissed as he pulled the two knives out of his body. One had hit him in the left leg and the other hit him in his lower back. The flesh around the wounds had been frozen solid and seemed to be growing larger. He managed to escape back into the Crimson Angel’s control room.

Helena looked back at him. “Oh my! Looks like you got into a fine mess of trouble,” she said with a smug expression on her face.

“Yes, it would seem that our little princess is more powerful than we expected. She possesses abilities similar to Helga’s.”

Helena groaned. “Please do not mention that witch in my presence. She just can’t get it through her head that Cain loves me and not her. Hmph, she might have had a chance with him if she didn’t have that ridiculous blue hair or put her hair into those ugly buns. You won’t believe what she said to me the other day! She actually had the audacity to tell me-”

Isaak cut her off, “Enough of your senseless babbling!” For once, Isaak lost some of his cool composure. He continued to clutch his leg in agony, the frostbite was still spreading.

“Well you don’t have to bite my head off! Anyway, you should go back to headquarters and get those nasty wounds treated. But could you be a doll and send some of those slimy demons after them? I’ve managed to locate the next Crimson Angel and Mein Herr has ordered me to activate it, so I won’t be able to play with the children today.”

“Very well then, I will meet you there,” Isaak said. Helena walked off and Isaak began to concentrate. He summoned 8 of the gelatinous Sylphides.

“Capture the Nightroad siblings and bring them back to the Orden. I don’t care if they get injured, just make sure that they get there alive.”

The Sylphides darted into the tunnels and Isaak hobbled to the entrance. “Hmm, they say that those that run away live to fight another day. ‘Tis a pity though, that I won’t be seeing you two again today. Oh well, another time my dears.” He then exited, and the room grew silent except for the low humming of the machines.

--

Jill and the Nightroad family were still walking in the tunnels, having seen no sign of Lilith or an exit. They had entered a large chamber with a high ceiling. A light shuffling noise came from behind them.

“Lilith!?” Jill shouted hopefully. There was no answer.

“Hey, twerp? Is that you?” Vincent walked closer to the noise. Then, a tentacle shot out and grabbed him.

“What the hell?!” he shouted, struggling to break free.

The Sylphide growled and drew him closer.

“Let him go!” Jill shouted, taking her gun out of its holster.

It growled louder and shot another tentacle out. Jill closed her eyes, turned her head, and fired at the creature.

The bullet hit the creature and grazed Vincent. It retracted its tentacles, dropping the prince.

“Ouch! Please try aiming next time you fire that thing,” Vincent said, running back to the group.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just a flesh wound.”

The queen gasped and pointed to the other doorway. More Sylphides were pouring into the room.

“There are too many to fight, we’ll have to find a way to run!” Abel shouted, frantically searching the room for any other exits.

The Sylphides came closer, pushing the group to the wall. Jill screamed as they reached for them.

The ceiling began to rumble. Then it collapsed on top of the Sylphides, crushing them to death.

The group coughed from all the dust, then they heard a cough that didn’t belong to them.

“Man, I’ve really done it now. All I do is trip and fall and the whole floor collapses!”

Jill gasped. “Lilith!”

“Huh? Whoa!” She yelled as Jill tackle hugged her.

“Truly a gift from God she is!” Esther laughed as she too ran to hug Lilith.

They all ran to hug Lilith and tousle her dusty hair. “Heh, I should disappear more often,” she giggled.

“No, I think once is enough,” Abel said, cleaning his glasses.

The now reunited group headed into the tunnels once more. Soon, they found a ray of light shining from a hole in the ceiling. On the wall was a ladder; they had found the trap door that led into the church!

The look of shock on the clergy’s faces was priceless as a very dirty royal family and a young nun climbed up from the slums.

“Your Majesty! Sister Jillian! Are you all alright?” They were crowded by worried nuns and priests.

“Yes, we’re all fine. Is everyone safe up here?” Esther asked.

The church grew quiet. Esther’s gaze was drawn to 5 bloody sheets on the floor in the corner.

One of the priests spoke up, “There were two people, a young looking woman carrying a doll and a man with long, black hair came in and demanded entrance into the slums. We refused… And then…” the priest’s voice began to break, “The woman, she laughed as she slaughtered some of out priests and nuns, and said that if she had to ask again…she’d kill us all one by one. We’re deeply sorry Your Highness! We shouldn’t have let them through!”

“No, you did the right thing…” Esther said quietly.

--

The funeral for the murdered clergy was held 3 days later in a large church in the city. The Nightroad family attended, as well as many of the townsfolk. The people of Londinium were grieving for more than the fallen clergy, however. It had finally been let out that the enemy of the world had resurfaced after 25 long years of peace.

Lilith walked over to Jill and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hey, are you alright?” she asked the grieving Sister.

“Yes, I’ll be alright. I just…need a little time is all,” Jill said, wiping tears from her red and swollen eyes. “These people…they’re like a family to me. To see them like this is…” She couldn’t finish before she burst into tears again.

“Poor Jill,” Lilith thought as she walked over to her family, “She lost so many friends, all because of us…”

“How is she doing?” Vincent whispered to his little sister.

“Not so good, she’s taking it pretty hard,” she whispered back.

Vincent sighed and looked over at the mourning Sister. “I’m going to go talk to her for a minute,” he said.

She watched as Vincent approached Jill. He said a few words and then Jill flung herself into his arms, sobbing.

Lilith felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back and saw her father.

“We should be going soon. It’ll be dark in a little bit, and Virgil doesn’t want us out too late,” Abel said.

“It’s all our fault, Dad. If the Rosenkreuz weren’t looking for us, then they’d still be alive…”

“Lilith, don’t be so hard on yourself. There’s nothing we could have done.”

“No Dad, I failed again. That was the same woman that had attacked me and Vincent, Helena von Lohengrin. If we had stopped her in the palace, then she wouldn’t have killed all those innocent people!”

Abel sighed. “Even so, Isaak would have probably done the same thing.”

“Dad, there’s…something I’ve wanted to ask you and Mom.”

“Hmm?”

“I…I want to join the AX!”

“Eh?!”

“Dad, I want to get stronger. Ever since this whole mess started, I’ve learned how weak I am. I may be part Crusnik, but I never feed on…” she struggled to say it, “Blood. If I don’t feed, then I can’t use my powers, which leaves me totally useless. I need to find a way to be strong, without having to resort to my powers, so I can fight the Rosenkreuz! Please Dad, I want to help. And I know the only way I can is by joining the Vatican, like you and Mom.”

Abel sighed again. “I’ll… Speak to your mother about it later. Now c’mon, we have to get going.”

--

“Abel, you can’t be serious! She can’t go to Rome, it’s too dangerous!” Esther was pacing about the room.

“Esther, love, listen to me for a moment. It might not be a bad idea. She’d learn how to fight, and you know that she’d be well protected.” Abel said, following her.

“No Abel! I’m telling you, Lilith would be much safer here in Albion with the rest of us,” Esther said. Her husband and her had been arguing for an hour about what to do about the request of their daughter.

“Really? Safe you say? And you call going through a coup and almost dying in the slums of Londinium safe?” Abel asked.

The queen stopped. She had to admit, on some level, her husband was right. She sighed and sat in a chair. “I know, you’re right…but I just can’t imagine her being so far from home. I wouldn’t see her for so long, and Lady Caterina would send her on dangerous missions. She might…never come home.”

“I know, it’ll be hard,” Abel said quietly as he knelt beside Esther, “But I think that it’ll be good for her. Being with the AX would offer her greater protection than what we could give her here. Besides, Lilith is very stubborn. If we said no, then she would sneak out the window this very night and head for Rome any way she could.”

Esther nodded her head, finally conceding defeat. “Oh, very well then. I suppose that I shall have to speak to Her Eminence tonight and arrange for her to join.”

“I’ve already taken the liberty of asking. Lady Caterina is ready to take her at any time.”

“What? You mean that you already asked her without telling me?!”

“Hehe, I knew that I could get you to see it my way,” he said, smiling.

Esther muttered something under her breath and got up from her chair.

“Where are you going, my dear?”

“I’m going to talk to Lilith for a minute,” she said, exiting the room.

--

Lilith was lying on her bed, reading a cheap romance novel. She was so caught up in her book that she didn’t hear the soft knocking on her door. The person knocked again, louder this time, and she finally heard it.

“Come in!” she called. “Aww, it was getting to the good part too.”

The door opened and Lilith saw her mother walk into the room.

“Huh? What is it, Mom?” Lilith asked.

“We need to talk Lilith,” Esther said, shutting the door.

“About what?” Lilith sat up and made some room on her bed for her mother.

“Rome,” Esther answered, sitting down, “We need to talk about your joining the church. We’ve decided to let you go.”

“Awww, I knew you would say no! But Mom, I…wait a minute, come again?”

“I said, your father and I have come to the decision that you might be safer in Rome. It would be harder for the Rosenkreuz to get you.”

“Really?! You actually mean it!? You’re really letting me go to Rome?!” Lilith shouted, her eyes full of excitement.

“Yes, you will be leaving in a week. We just need to make some final preparations.”

“Thank you so much Mom!” Lilith shouted with joy as she hugged Esther, “I promise that you won’t regret it!”

“Alright, just promise me one thing Lilith.”

“What?”

“That you’ll come home safe,” Esther said quietly, tears forming in her eyes.

“Yeah, you have my word, Mom,” she said as she hugged her mother.

--

7 days later, Lilith was standing by a limousine holding a large suitcase. She tearfully hugged her mother and father and exchanged heartfelt goodbyes with some of the palace staff.

“Where’s Vincent? I haven’t said goodbye to him yet,” Lilith asked, looking around.

“He said that it would be too hard for him to say goodbye,” Esther said.

“And what about Jill?”

“She was too busy with church duties.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I guess I better get going then. See you guys later.”

“Wait, before you go, Lilith, I have something to give you,” Abel said, putting something soft into her hands.

“Huh? Your old hair ribbon?” Lilith asked, a puzzled expression on her face. The ribbon was long and made of black satin. Its coloring had faded slightly with age.

“Heh, that thing went through hell and back with me while I was in the AX, since I could never afford to get a new one, what with the vow of poverty and all. It’s kind of like a good luck charm, you could say.”

“Thanks Dad,” Lilith said. She took her scarlet hair and put it into a ponytail. “So, how do I look?” she asked.

“Wonderful,” Abel said as he kissed her on the cheek, “Now, I have a little advice to give you before you head out. Always be on your guard when you’re with that lady killer, Father Leon. He’s nothing but trouble. The last thing I need is a pregnant teen daughter! Oh, and don’t be intimidated by Father Tres. Underneath that cold exterior he’s actually quite kind. Oh, and do not, under any circumstances, help with or be near one of the Professor’s inventions. It always ends very badly! Oh, and-”

“Okay Dad, I get it!” Lilith laughed, “Be careful around all of your old co-workers.”

She stepped closer to the car and shouted goodbye to everyone. When she opened the car door though, she was met with quite a surprise.

“What the hell are you guys doing in there!?”

Inside the car sat Vincent and Jill along with two suitcases by their feet.

“I thought that it would be too hard for me to say goodbye, just like Mother said,” Vincent said coolly, putting his hands behind his head, “So I figured that I might as well just come to Rome with you.”

‘And you?” Lilith asked, pointing to the smiling Sister.

“Also just like your Mother said; I’m on church duties,” Jill proclaimed, handing a piece of paper to the shocked princess. It was a notice for Jill to be transferred to Rome.

Lilith looked back at her parents, who just smiled broadly. She then began to smile, too.

“Well then, shall we get going?” Lilith asked, shutting the car door, “Driver, take us to the train station. We’re almost late for our train to Rome.”