Things past cannot be recalled but may be repented

The return to Zaphias after their supposed vacation was a welcome change of pace. At the very least, it meant there was time for Carl and Rita to do their work with improving the prototype replacement blastia given to everyone and the barrier they were supposed to be working on. The others can focus on keeping a defence up for whatever Terumi may have planned... which from the information they have, is pretty much unknown at this point. They had to act cautiously in light of these recent events.

The castle courtyard was a nice place to relax at this time. For Noel, this is much needed way for her to clear her head. As if she didn't have enough of those during the vacation at Yumanju.

With a disgruntled sigh, she walked around a small pond, still very much confused about everything going on. Jin was getting a few members of the knighthood added to his brigade as Captain, on Flynn's suggestions actually. Captain Sodia was helping him pick out a few knights who were to form part of his brigade, though apparently his standards were a little too high.

Uniforms were also an issue, but apparently Jin has a collection of his newest ones now, courtesy of the tailors from Heliord. She unfortunately, had to revert to her old uniform after washing it. The armor on female knights restricted far too much of her movements so she had to place an order on making copies of her current uniform as well.

But that wasn't really something her mind cared about too much. She continued to slowly pace her way back and forth across this area. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked herself. Tinged with sadness, Noel's voice carried through the air to the small area she's in. She didn't really hear or notice anyone close by. Lost in her own thoughts, she kicked at a small stone before resting her back against the closest wall.

What measure is being called 'human?' Ever since her skin briefly touched that other girl, Lambda, that vision had scared her to the point that it was really hard to think of something else. And the words Noel spoke, why did she call herself 'not human?'

"Argh! Enough of this! I need to focus on something else." Noel cried out, annoyed. "Speaking of something else, why is Major... no, Captain Kisaragi still so worked up? He said he's going to be nicer to me, but it still feels like he treats me the same way as he always did." She mumbled to herself, kicking another small stone on the ground and still remembering the little slap he gave her before they left Yumanju. "There's something strange about him to. His heart being that of a Grimoire... I just don't get it at all." Noel continued. "Since when did all this start happening? What should I do?"

Even as she thought this, someone had already noticed her alone in the courtyard. Flynn was a bit tired too, already bombarded by work, documents, and incident reports from Zaphias alone. Organizing the knightly formations all around the world was a hard task and Sodia wasn't exactly his assistant anymore ever since she became her own Captain. He needed a new one for a bit more order. Surprisingly enough, it was Jin who recommended his own Lieutenant for that position.

Seeing Noel push herself off the wall and start wandering around in a circle again, Flynn followed her silently before tapping her shoulders with a 'Hi!'

The response was certainly unexpected. Noel immediately whipped around and slammed her knees straight at the perceived intruder. In this case, Flynn felt the full force of a kick to the stomach as he crumpled down to the ground.

Upon realizing who it was that she attacked with little provocation, her mouth was wide open, apologizing as Flynn struggled to get up.

"AAAHHH! Ohmygod ohmygod... Please forgive me for hurting you like that, Major... Captain... Commandant... Sir! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I didn't know it was you!" she cried out.

To those who knew her, she was naturally a klutz and prone to emotional outbursts like right now. But that's what made her endearing... to most. These qualities were awkward for a member of the Praetorian Guard, or at least the knighthood considering she's not exactly part of them anymore.

"That's... alright." Flynn wheezed, trying to catch his breath. "I should have said something before I tapped your shoulder. Sorry," he said, "But ah... Miss Vermillion?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know if you've been consulted but... Captain Jin volunteered you for a position he thought might be something you'd be good at. Well, it's actually more of my secretary I guess? Organizing a few files and letting me know of events?" he laughed nervously.

"That's the same job I had under Jin." She sighed. "I think he volunteered me just to get rid of me... not that I'm complaining or anything. You're a lot nicer... I think?"

"You and Jin have a strange love and hate relationship." Flynn said.

"Jin's not normally so mean to people other than me, really. Sure, he's a bit cold... and cruel... and he really dislikes my face... but we already made up, I think? Well, he said he was going to be treating me properly like a little sister now but I still feel like nothing at all," she sighed. "Sorry again. It must be awkward listening to me telling you all this. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Flynn said, "I'd guess that he may have been treating you like a little sister in the past already, you just haven't figured it out yet."

"You're mean." Noel said.

"Oh, sorry." Flynn apologized, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face. "Anyways, what do you think of Jin's suggestion that you be moved under me?"

Noel giggled to herself, the phrase itself just a bit funny... to her. "Ah, I have nothing against it, no. But it may take me a while to get used to the things I need to do. I'm a bit of a slow learner." She said, calming herself down.

"That won't be a problem at all," Flynn said, "After all, we have a lot of time for you to get used to all this. Do you want to just hang out for a bit? Get something to eat?"

"Hmm, why does it feel like you're asking me out...?" Noel asked, causing an awkward silence to fall over the two. Her thoughts drifted back to a time when she was still a member of the Librarium. During her free time, she usually just wrote poetry and generally daydream. Like, right, now...

"Well, if you put it that way," Flynn started, shaking his head with a chuckle. "I don't suppose there's anything wrong with that?"

Blades clashed, clear notes ringing against metal as Yuri and Jin's weapons struck against each other with looks of awe from the spectators: Estelle and a few Imperial Knights.

It was a mere sparring session for demonstration, no activation of replacement blastia or anything of the sort. And it's not like Jin had much of a choice. With his sword, Yukianesa being broken, the katana Yuri was letting him use can't possibly be a good enough replacement. Of course, that's not stopping Jin from holding his own.

"You didn't fight like this last time at Halure." Yuri grunted, flipping over and bringing his weapon down at Jin, who promptly stepped to the side not taking his blade out of its sheathe until the last moment, swinging it once and disarming Yuri. This was met by Yuri jumping back and catching his own weapon right before it fell to the ground.

"I'm a bit more wary if I can't fight to my full potential." Jin replied, returning to the defensive, returning the sword to its sheathe again.

This was just a style Yuri can't get used to. A technique that only fully draws the blade at certain times only for a retaliatory attack, but is still partially out for defense. Unlike their last skirmish at Halure, Yuri can actually see just how different his style was without any arcane enhacements and it wasn't something that anyone from the knights or the guilds actually practiced in the present.

Again, Yuri went on the offensive, shifting his weight to the left where Jin was just slightly less able to move fast enough to defend himself. A miscalculation on his part, because Jin immediately took the next action in the air, crossing over above Yuri and seemed to spin, hitting Yuri's face with the sleeve of his uniform and then kicked him down to the ground. But not before Yuri grabbed hold of the passing sleeve and brought Jin down as well.

"Those two are really good." Estelle told herself, continuing to watch the sparring session from the sidelines. Even with Jin's technique revealed like this, Yuri learned quickly and they were still dead even in a situation like this.

To those still questioning Jin's inclusion into the knights, this sparring session was proof that he'd definitely be a valuable addition.

The end of the session left a disinterested Jin back against a wall, beaten... though it looked as if he threw the match anyways.

"Guess that's what I get for missing too many." He muttered, staring around and sighed. Had he been relying too much on the powers of his old weapon? Without Yukianesa, his focus was less than satisfactory, and it was hard for him to think properly in a fight.

"At least you're better than Flynn." Yuri replied reaching down with his hand to help him up. "Still could use a bit more seriousness from you though. Ah well, at least your presence here is stopping me from being arrested." He grinned.

"Yeah, whatever." Jin said, taking Yuri's hand and stood up. "I need a lot of work."

"Nah, you're one of the top swordsmen I've ever seen. Even without that weapon of yours. At least I can see you've practiced a lot." Yuri nodded with a grin on his face.

Seeing this happy scenery all around, Jin felt a little nostalgic. There's something about this place that he could remember, and it certainly wasn't all the other times when he was in his own training sessions with his 'family.' Lost in thought, he felt a strange rocking of the castle before it subsided.

"What was that all about?" Yuri wondered, a little disoriented as well. Where did the shaking come from anyways?

"Crap! Damn it! Son of a –"

"Hey, Kokonoe! Calm down. The teleportation was fine, just a stray magnetic field interrupted the surroundings and communication. We're all fine." The large, red man replied before turning his head to the right. "You're fine as well I hope?" he asked one of his companions.

"Yes, I'm fine." The young woman replied, shaking her head to get rid of the disorienting sensation and turned her attention towards another figure behind her. "Makoto, you're alright as well I hope?" she asked.

"Yep, I'm good. Teleporting is strange though." Came the response, a second young woman getting up with an attempt to balance herself as she stood. The two women looked to be of similar age, one with long red hair and a hat with wings and an eye on it, while the other one had short, chestnut hair... with furry ears and a long bushy tail. Tsubaki Yayoi and Makoto Nanaya.

"Hey Tsubaki." Makoto said, "Are you sure you want to do this? This is a lot you're giving up just working for Sector Seven after all." She told her friend.

"I know." Her friend replied. "But you know I can't let this one go. To be honest, I'm actually surprised that you're working for 'her' too. It's going to be pretty hard for anything to surprise me at this point." Tsubaki nodded.

"Nor would I." A voice said, Jin walking down towards the summoning area. "So that woman has decided to bring you in as well." His eyes turned towards Tsubaki before he sighed and continued on. "It's nice to see you again... I've... missed you." He said quietly.

At that moment, Makoto's jaw dropped. "Wait... I'm missing something here." She said. "Jin acting this nice without reason, what kind of sick world have we been placed in?"

"Where's Noel when you need her." Jin muttered, turning back around. "If that cat hadn't given you an explanation already, then I guess we have a lot to explain." He said, walking up the steps as Tsubaki, Makoto, and Tager followed him. "It's about time we have a proper introduction to some of our new 'friends.'"

"New friends, huh?" Makoto chuckled, "Who are you and what have you done to Jin?"

Author's Notes:

Shortness. :3 Like I said in a previous story, very busy on my end.