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"Where am I?" Lacey said to herself. She appeared to be alone in someplace very dark. She could barely see 10 inches in front of herself.

"Lacey..."

Lacey whipped around. "Did I just here a voice?" She peered into the darkness and saw nothing. "Is someone there?"

"I knew it...you've forgotten all about me. You can't even recognize my voice..."

"What the hell is she talking about..." Lacey said to herself. She continued to look until she finally spotted something in the distance. The figure wore tattered clothes and was sitting in a hunched position with its knees drawn to its chest, concealing its face. When Lacey came closer, she noticed that it had blond hair.

And then it clicked.

"Sarah?" she whispered. "It is you! Sarah!"

Lacey ran over to the girl, a look of pure joy on her face. She reached down and hugged her, tears welling up in her green eyes. "I missed you so much Sarah..."

"No you didn't," Sarah stated.

Lacey looked at the girl like she had grown two heads. "What are you talking about? I never stop thinking about Sarah, never!"

"Then why haven't you found me yet..."

Lacey sighed and grabbed Sarah's hand. "Its that horrible Terran's fault. Helena won't let me see you. If she wasn't around, we'd be together again!"

The girl was quiet as she continued to hold her older sister's hand, as if she was thinking about something. Her grip suddenly began to tighten.

"You know what...I think you're just like them Lacey," she said weakly.

"W-what!? What do you mean Sarah?! I'm nothing like these monsters!"

"Yes you are," she said. Her grip tightened even more, making Lacey's hand hurt slightly. "You kill innocent people. You destroy homes and towns. You seperate families. You are just like them."

"I do it all for you!" Lacey shouted, tears rolling down her face. "I do it all so we can be a family again!"

The girl began to shake slightly. "No. You do it for pleasure, just like the rest of them. You're just like the people who killed Mom, just like the people who killed Dad, and just like the people who killed..."

Sarah finally raised her face. It was no longer the youthful face of the sister she once knew, but the face of something dead. Her hair was stringy and had clumps of dirt in it, her skin was rotting and had maggots crawling in it, and her eyes were milky white.

"Me."

Lacey screamed.

--

"Oh my, it would appear that you've had quite the nightmare, my dear."

Lacey franticaly looked around. She was in a taxi that was parked on the bad side of Rome. Helena was sitting next to her in street clothes, holding a doll that looked like the shaken Methuselah. Helena wore a simple black blouse and a black skirt that reached her knees. Her hair was tied back in a short ponytail.

"Oh yeah...the mission," Lacey thought as she sighed and looked at her own street clothes, a red long sleeved shirt and a faded pair of blue jeans. They were supposed to contact a gang that had access to some Lost Technology from the Empire and pay them a large sum of money for it. They had to wear all this so they wouldn't look suspicious.

"Hey, is your sister alright miss?" the taxi driver asked, looking back at the two girls.

"Yeah, my sister just had a nightmare. Thanks for the ride," Helena said as she stepped out of the car and grabbed the suitcase she had brought. "Come along Lacey."

Lacey got out of the car and joined Helena. She looked around at the foggy slum. It looked like there wasn't anyone else around.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting somethin' lady? You still haven't paid me," the driver said, sticking his head out the window.

Helena looked back at him and smirked, as if suddenly remembering something amusing. "That's right, I believe Isaak said to kill anyone who knew we were at the slums."

"What are you-aahh!" The taxi driver's face took on a shocked look. He looked like he couldn't breath.

Helena giggled as she watched.

Lacey could only sigh.

--

"There, ready for tomorrow's ceremony," Vincent said, admiring his new cassock. The next day would be the inaugaration ceremony for the AX. He and his sister, as well as Sister Jill, would finally be part of the AX after 7 months of hard work.

"Hmm...Jill..." he whispered to himself. Just hearing her name made him blush. He had barely seen her for 7 months because they'd all been so busy with their training. He had to admit, it would be good to see her again...

Then, Vincent heard a tapping noise on his window. It sounded like pebbles were being thrown at it.

"I didn't miss her though during these 7 months," Vincent grumbled, "After all, how can I miss someone who keeps trying to break my window in the middle of the night!"

Vincent walked to his window and angrily opened it. "Alright twerp, you better have a good reason for sneaking to my room after curfew."

"Hehe, hi Vince. Just dropping in to give you my latest test scores, since you bug me whenever I don't," Lilith laughed as she handed him a small slip of white paper. Then she climbed through the window and flopped on Vincent's bed.

"Let's see here, looks like you actually got decent grades this time around," Vincent said.

"Hey! I always get good grades!"

"You call C's and D's good grades?"

Lilith's mouth opened as if to say something, but stayed silent. Finally, she sighed. "Okay, you may have a small point there."

"Personally, I thought that they were going to ship you back to Albion weeks ago," he chuckled.

"Hey!"

"Kiiding, I'm kidding. Anyway, where do you want to go eat tomorrow? I figured the three of us should go celebrate after the ceremony," Vincent said, still chuckling.

"Huh? Tomorrow? Umm-well-you see," she mumbled as she picked at a thread on her blue habit, "...I can't. I have a...prior engagement."

"A prior engagement!? What the hell are you talking about?" the young prince asked. He then noticed the blush on her cheeks. "Ooohhh, I get it now," he said, grinning.

Lilith looked at him with a confused expression.

"You're going on a date with that kid in the wheelchair, aren't you?"

Lilith's face turned as red as her hair. "D-date!? N-no! You've got it all wrong! He just said that he'd buy me dinner if I made it through the training! And he's not "that kid in the wheelchair", his name is Alex..."

"Uh-huh. Well, I guess I'll leave you to your little date then, have fun," Vincent laughed.

"W-wait! I mean, we can still go get dessert together. I found this really nice bakery down the street. The cake there is delicious," Lilith said.

"Do you mean "Alex showed me this really nice bakery down the street"?"

Lilith growled and stormed off toward the window.

"Call me on my cell when you get done with your date, Jill and I will come get you."

"Fine. Whatever," Lilith grumbled, slipping out the window and into the garden. Most of the employee's bedrooms were centered around the Vatican's main garden.

"See you at the ceremony tomorrow," Vincent said. He closed his window and drew the curtains.

"Well, now what? I'm totaly wired right now," Lilith wondered aloud. It was an awfuly nice night...and she was sure nobody would bother checking if she was in her room...

"I think a little night stroll is in order," Lilith said smiling.

--

"Hello there boys," Helena purred when she saw the group of thugs enter the lonely alleyway. She was sitting on an old crate with Lacey standing beside her.

"Hey there doll face, you guys with the Orden?" a burly man, who seemed to be the leader, asked. He had greasy brown hair and an ugly scar running down the left side of his face. The group consisted of about 6 people, all wearing beat up leather jackets.

"That's us," Helena said, "You may call me Puppemeister, and this is my friend Schlangenbeschwörer, or Snake Charmer if you prefer. Now, do you have what we want?"

"Depends, you got the cash?"

Lacey tossed the suitcase at the feet of the scarred man.

He picked it up and looked inside. He looked pleased with whatever the contents were.

"Well, like they say, pleasure doin' business with you ladies," the leader said, handing over a manila envelope. "Directions to where the goods are being kept are in there."

"Thanks. Now, if you'll excuse us," Helena said. She was going to slip off the crate, but the thugs began closing in.

Lacey scowled. "Do you need something else?"

"Well, now that I think about it, those goods were pretty hard to get. I don't think this is enough to cover it," the scarred man said. His eyes had a lustful glint to them.

"Yeah. You know, you girls are pretty cute. How about we have some fun before you head home," a skinny man said as he approached Helena. His hand began to creep up her skirt. "Wow, you've got some nice legs there."

"Really? You think so?" Helena asked, her finger tapping her lip as she looked up at the sky, "Hmm, then I guess you should be grateful that that's the last thing you'll ever feel."

The man looked confused at first, then shocked. He coughed, a little blood trickled from his lips. Then a thin, red line appeared along his throat.

The thugs gasped as their companion fell to the ground, his head rolling away from his body. Blood began to spurt from his neck as his body twitched slightly.

Helena giggled as she picked up his head. "Sorry, but only Mein Herr is allowed that kind of fun with me," she said, stroking his hair, "Now then, what was this about not having enough money?"

The thugs were already gone.

"Huh? Oh well then, guess we'll never know," Helena shrugged, tossing the head aside.

--

Lilith loved taking walks around the city. It made her think of Londinium, and her family. Whenever she felt homesick, she'd just take a stroll down the street and she felt like she was back in Albion.

"Hmm, I wonder how everyone is doing," she thought. She and the others still sent letters to their loved ones, but it just wasn't the same as actually being there. It was so easy to lie in a letter, you're not actually talking to someone in person.

"And I just know Mom and Dad would lie to me if there was anything wrong, just so I wouldn't worry!" she thought angrily.

Lilith was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice that the streets became less clean and the people looked less welcoming.

"Oh well, I guess if anything really bad happened, I would read it in the paper...ouch!"

"Hey! Watch where the hell your going lady!" a burly man with a scar shouted at her. Behind him was a group of about 5 people sitting around a suitcase full of money.

"Huh? Oh man! I'm so sorry!" Lilith finally snapped back to reality. She had walked right into the man.

"Well guess what doll face, you caught me in a really bad mood right now. How are you gonna make it up to me, eh?"

The group behind the man began to laugh.

"Umm...well, how about I just walk away slowly and forget we ever met?" Lilith said nervously.

"Nope, I'm afraid that that's not gonna cut it. I think we should teach you a lesson in respect..." the scarred man said, moving closer and grabbing Lilith's arm.

"Ah! Let me go, creep!" she yelled.

She continued to struggle, but couldn't break away. The thugs just continued to laugh.

"Somebody help!" Lilith screamed, franticaly looking for a way out of his grasp.

"Allow me, señorita," a man behind her said. Suddenly, a flying ring came out of an alley and hit the man's hand. He cried out in pain and let go of Lilith.

"Jeez, don't you guys know that if you want to woo a girl, especially a pretty one like this, you have to be gentle? Amateurs," the man laughed as he stepped out of the alleyway. He wore priest's robes, but his shirt was open and exposed his chest. He had long hair with grey streaks in it that resembled the mane of a lion. Even the priest's grin reminded Lilith of a lion that had just caught its prey.

"Go to hell you b*****d!" the leader yelled, clutching his bloodied hand.

The priest walked up to Lilith and wrapped his arm around her waist. "You alright? These brutes didn't hurt you did they?"

Lilith was still reeling from the shock of what had just happened. "N-no, I'm o-okay," she finally managed to stutter.

"Great. Now, if you don't mind, could you step back a bit so I can take care of these guys?"

Lilith nodded shakily and stepped behind the odd priest.

"Alright idiots, you're all under arrest under the charges of conspiring against the church. Either come quietly, or I'll take you guys by force," the priest said.

One of the thugs laughed. "What's one old man gonna do? Bring it on, grandpa!"

"Grandpa? Okay, now you've just pissed me off. Force it is!" He began to twirl a chakram on his fingers, one in each hand.

The thugs circled the priest, grabbing whatever weapon they could find near them. One, a man with a lead pipe, took a swing at him. The priest easily ducked to the side and kicked him in the ribs. Two others swung around to the side, but were hit in the legs by chakrams, causing them to tumble to the ground.

The leader ran up to him and swung his fist at his jaw. The priest staggered back as he was hit.

"Damn, that kinda hurt," he said, rubbing his face.

The scarred man grinned, but then cried out in pain when a large rock was thrown at his head, followed by a kick to the gut.

"That's for calling me doll face, you punk," Lilith said, smiling proudly.

The man groaned before finally passing out.

Lilith looked back at the priest. He had already taken out the last of the thugs. She could hear police sirens in the distance.

"It's about time they got here," the priest said. He walked over to Lilith and put his arm around her shoulders. "Nice job there señorita, guess you're not the average nun. What's your name?"

"Its Lilith, and thanks for saving me," she said as she smiled.

"Lilith huh? That's a pretty name you got there. How about I walk you home after I get done with the police?"

"Okay," she said. The police finally arrived at the scene. The priest spoke with the officers and the thugs were quickly put in the squad cars, along with the money found at the scene.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, the man joined the young nun and offered her his arm. "So, where to?"

"The Vatican," Lilith answered, looping her arm through his, "So, why were you here?"

"I was told to tail a gang that was supposed to be contacting some terrorists tonight. But it looks like they already made the exchange by the time I found them."

"I see," she said, "Oh! I never got your name!"

The priest laughed. "Sorry, guess I was a little too busy for formalities. The name's Leon, Father Leon Garcia de Asturias."

"Hmm...now where have I heard that name before..." she thought. Suddenly, she remembered and quickly let go of Leon's arm.

"Huh? What's wrong Lilith?" Leon asked, looking confused.

"You...you're that pervert Dad warned me about!" Lilith shouted.

"Pervert? Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Leon asked, looking a little annoyed.

"No! Dad says you used to hit on all the nuns in the Vatican, including Mom! In fact, you were hitting on me this whole time, weren't you!"

"Wait a second..." Leon said, scratching his chin as he came closer. He looked closely at Lilith. "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Nightroad, would it?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Lilith asked defensively.

"Damn, I thought you looked familiar," Leon laughed, "You're Father Four-Eyes' kid aren't you?"

"Hey! Don't call him that!" Lilith shouted, crossing her arms.

"I gotta to say though, you get most of your good looks from Esther. But you've got your dad's eyes, minus the rediculous glasses," the priest said as he looked at her.

"Man, I'm out of here. See you later Father Pervert," Lilith grumbled as she walked away.

"Hey, its dangerous for a girl to be walking the streets alone at night! You might run into more thugs! Let me take you home!" Leon called to her.

"I'll take my chances! Mom says a girl could get pregnant just by talking to you!" she yelled back.

Leon watched and scratched his head as the young nun walked away. "There goes another one, damn," Leon sighed, "Guess I've just got rotten luck lately."

When Lilith retuned to her room, she vowed to never think and walk at the same time ever again. The risk of running into perverts was too great.