Cecily wandered in the opposite direction of her hometown. Tightly clenched in her hand was the slip of paper with words she knew would confuse her if she tried to read. Behind her, trailed three guards, not bothering to hide their existence as they followed her.

A smirk on her lips, she decided they were in enough of a forested arae to take care of that. A quick movement of her feet and she was sprinting, turning into the wooded area that her body moved through like it was her home. Because it was. The woods had always been the home that she never had. Long ago, when she was young, the trees were her sanctuary. They fed her and they gave her wealth. In the prison, they were her hunting grounds. Now, they were her escape.

The feet running behind her were long gone by the time they were nearing on the next city. She kept running, looping the long way around the city, back in the direction of her friends.

---

The first time Zephyr heard someone knock at the door, he'd been sitting in the living room with the others while Cecily's dad laughed about stories of his young daughter, flashing pictures in their faces of a little girl with puffy cheeks and frizzy hair.

Alma stiffened, but moved quickly, ushering Zephyr, Rei, and Orion into the rooms.

From the door, they piled onto each other, ears pressed against the old wood.

"Mr. Earnheart," a voice said, formal. Zephyr knew a guards voice when he heard one. "I'm sorry to disturb you at this time of-"

"Make it fast, officer," the older man replied, his voice startlingly rough. "I have better things to do than listen to your pointless rambling all day."

The voice was startlingly like Cecily's, in it's stern, forceful way.

"Of course, sir. I'm sure that it has comet o your attention that your daughter has, once again, become a criminal."

"How could it not be. You were here a few days ago with the same spiel."

"R-right. Forgive me, sir. Have you seen your daughter anytime soon."

"Same answer as last time, kid." This time, his voice seethed hatred. "That bitch isn't allowed on my land. If I ever catch her here, I'll wobble my happy ass over to that box you call a station and tell you if I don't take her out myself. Now, that'll be all."

And with that, the door slammed.

The little trio took a moment to listen for any need to run.

"It's okay," Cy said, making his way back to the chair, the one piece of furniture Zephyr had seen him use. "He's gone."

---

The second time that Orion had heard a knock on the door, he was pulling Alma over to the same hallway, tugging by the back to her jacket. A moment later, he had to remind himself to check on the prince. Luckily, Rei had him covered and was only a step behind.

Cyrus opened the door and Orion expected the same brutal voice he'd shown the soldier a few days ago.

"We're safe," he called instead. "It's just my amazing daughter." In a quieter voice, he asked, "Got everything you need?"

There was no reply. Instead, Orion caught Cecily pushing through the door, giving her dad no more than a pat on the shoulder. If he hadn't known her for the past month, he would've assumed there was nothing between the two of him. However, he had a better understanding of the hunter. And the expression on Cyrus's face showed he knew the same thing.

All of them, the prince, guard, and Saint included, also knew something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" Zeph asked, stepping forward once the door was closed.

"We need to go," she said, her voice betraying nothing.

She pushed something into Zephyr's hand before brushing passed him and going to Reiko.

"Ask my dad for weapons. Take the other two and get them what they need. We're rushing."

She was down the hall in a few seconds.

"Alma," Orion said, "go with Rei."

Alma nodded, but grabbed onto his hand. "Make sure she's okay. I have a feeling she's the type to brush off being stabbed. Even if we haven't seen it happen. You strong types are all like that."

He nodded and she let go.

He rushed down the hall, peeking over Zephyr's shoulder only for a second to see numbers and words scribbled onto a piece of paper in what looked like an address.

He pushed himself through the door to Cecily's room, which was wide open.

She was quickly shoving things into a bag, pulling weapons out of small hidden compartments that honestly didn't surprise him. If he'd been forced to live in the conditions she'd been in, he'd have done the same thing.

"Hey," he said.

She wasn't listening. In fact, she hadn't even bothered to spare him a glance.

A little pissed, he wrapped his hands around her wrists. She didn't fight him and, instead, looked up at him.

He was a bit surprised to see exhaustion smeared across her entire face. Dark bags below her eyes which were being forced back into focus every few seconds. Her skin was pale and she, Cecily Earnheart, was covered in a layer of sweat.

"Gods," he mumbled, attempting to pry the bag out of her metal hand. Saying it like that, he realized it wasn't going to happen. Cybernetics weren't phased by exhaustion. "Okay, fine, keep the bag but stop packing and explain to me what's happening."

A glare crossed her features before she opened her mouth.

"Scratch that. Maybe take a nap then explain."

Her red hair shook with her head. "No time."

"Then explain now."

"Hmm. When they- when the previous king talked to me, a few hours after Zephyr pulled me out of the prison, he talked to me." Goddess' she could hardly keep her sentences straight. "We made a deal. Not Zephyr's deal, different deal. He could grant me immunity for a few days, the longest the law allowed if- allowed if Zephyr was still alive and he wasn't. Got about a day left. He gave me- gave me a house too. Was his but wrote it in my name. Subtly so nothing would happen. We only got a little while before the immunity wears off. We gotta leave. They pro- they probably know I'm here but they can't touch me. I haven't stopped since I left the palace."

"Hold up. You were in the palace?"

"Mmm. Pissed off that bitchy slave trader. We have to leave before they get here."

At this point, she was on her knees, forehead fighting to not rest on the assassin's shoulder.

"How long has it been since you slept? I know you didn't between the base and here, but please tell me you at least slept on the way to the capital."

She nodded. "For eight hours. Three days ago. I ran all night, haven't stopped since the capital."

"Alright you sleep." She tried to argue but she cut him off. "Listen to me. Listen. To. Me. Zephyr's going to figure out where to get us. Rei's getting weapons. I'll go pack food. But you, you need to sleep. Minus the amazing leadership skills that you apparently have, which are pretty pointless when you can't hold a real conversation, your greatest asset to us is your fighting skills. How much longer do you have immunity?"

"Maybe ten- maybe eight hours. Wanted to get as far away as possible."

"And we'll have plenty of time for that. But right now, you seriously need to sleep."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but didn't. Instead, she crawled up onto the bed.

Her eyebrows scrunched together in an unfocused glare. "You sound like Alma."

"Yeah, well, she's starting to rub off on me." She was already asleep. "What, do you have a hibernation mode too?"

-Authors Note-

Short chapter but it's an update.

Serious time. I've got two things to put on the table. First, is the possibility of a sad sequel. It slightly depends on how much you guys want a sequel and slightly depends on how much I want to write a sad sequel.

Secondly, I'm sure you've noticed and I've pointed out that I'm so bad at chapter titles. If You have anything better and I like it more comment a possibility on the chapter, I'll change it."