Miku scans the scroll for the nth time, rereading the one line she can't get off her mind: "The Messiah is born every fifteen years..." and so on it goes. She just can't wrap her head around her- her of all people, her friends, her village- being the Messiah. She seemed so small compared to the kind of peril Earth is being dragged into. How can she be the one to save it?

"Hey, you feeling all right?" Meiko takes the spot besides Miku and props an arm on her leg.

"I... I don't know..." Miku utters, positioning a hand under her chin. "How are your injuries?"

"Okay for now. I didn't take much of a blow, so I bet the wounds'll heal up pretty soon. But come on, Miku, I know you're just trying to avoid my question: are you okay?"

The tealette bows down her head and hugs her knees to her chest. A mouth in her arms, she muffles a "no" that luckily Meiko is able to hear. The swordswoman smiles sympathetically and swings her head the opposite direction.

She hasn't seen Miku frown in forever. Meiko only ever got to see her when she was with the group, and those were the times when seeing her smile was inevitable. Although, lately she'd been noticing Miku losing herself to deep thought since a couple days ago. It was nothing like her to be so caught up in thinking that she isn't communicating with the others.

"Miku..." Meiko pats her back for comfort and the sounds of a soft crying follow.

"Meiko," the tealette lifts her head to reveal her red-stained cheeks and puffy eyes, "what do you think I should do?"

She doesn't give her question much thought, instantly blurting out, "Well, if I were you, I'd probably go for it..." Meiko pauses for a moment and rubs Miku's back. "But if you think this is too much for you to handle and can't accept being the Messiah, that's okay. Or if you think you're willing to head to the tower and face it, that's fine, too. I want you to know that whatever you choose, I'll support you all the way."

"Really?"

"Of course, and I know everyone else would say the same."

Miku wipes her tears and Meiko throws her into a hug to help regain her composure. The tealette succumbs to the motivation and breaks into a brief laugh. There's no wonder why Meiko is known as the motherly figure of them all.

"Now why don't you go outside with Rin and Len to think? They'll be happy to see you."

She pulls away from Meiko, giving her a quick nod until she stands up to go out the door. The brunette watches Miku exit the house and once the door closes, she's left to think on her own.

Everyone else in their group had gone off doing the usual: Rin and Len in the fields to tend to their sheep, Gakupo probably on the hill to say some prayers, Gumi in the library to catch up on reading. While the others- without Miku's consent- assumed she'd taken up the Messiah role and were gathering items in the village to prepare.

As much as Meiko wanted to go out and maybe practice a few sword swings, Kaito and Luka assured she'd stay at the house to heal. It frustrated her to think she couldn't go outside because of some simple injuries, but the two constantly insisted that she just had to abide by their commands.

A smile remaining on her face from the recent incident with Miku, she looks to the floor, only to realize that the scroll is still left at her feet. It's the one the oracle gave Miku, isn't it? She opens it up and carefully skims the paper.

After reading a peculiar line, Meiko's eyes frantically fly through the page and she stares at the words agape.

- × * . * × -

Miku trolls the fields neighboring the Village of Youth. She'd come over every once in a while to check up on the two, or sometimes just to get a nice leisurely stroll by the baaing of sheep. She trudges through the grass still covered with drops of dew from days earlier.

Seeing the large fenced-off area not too far away, she eyes Len with his back turned away from her, staring at his sister from behind the gate. And when Miku nears, she can already hear their shouting.

"Len, the sheep are wandering off again! Can you please come over and help me!?" Rin hollers as she uses the blunt end of her staff to nudge the sheep along.

"Come on, Rin, you can do it! And don't jab them too hard with your crook; you look like you're trying to injure them! Be more gentle!"

"Gah! Len, you're so frustrating!"

Like always, the shepherd twins were having another one of their daily disputes. Rin was almost always found guilty for complaining about the little things. She was very sensitive and emotional that it was easy for her younger twin brother Len to toy with her emotions. Over the years she'd grown to be a bit stubborn and cold, yet was able to win over Miku's acceptance with her strength to withstand the tough, and to not give up so easily.

Unlike his elder sister, Len was known to be the most unpredictable. He was capable of facing new challenges head-on and was usually quick to react to any situation, or would constantly blurt things out without a second thought. Sometimes he'd come to surprise Miku with a simple action or saying she would've never thought would come from Len. However, she'd gotten used to his overall kindness and affection he secretly held for everyone that she always seemed comfortable to be around him.

"Hey, Miku," Len greets the tealette approaching him.

He's crossing his arms over his chest, glancing back to Rin.

"Hey," she smiles and stands by his side. "What's going on with you and Rin?"

"She can't seem to get the sheep to graze because they're trying to escape the boundaries of the fence. I already did my part this morning with the breeding and the ewes, so I thought Rin could just do this without my help."

"... And are you planning to help her?"

"Not one bit," he shrugs and Miku notes the slight enthusiasm in his tone. "She's the eldest and is still begging for my help. She needs to learn to do things on her own."

"How sweet of you," Miku giggles.

"Eh, I do my best. So... um... about earlier today with the whole oracle and prophecy thing, are you..." Len sighs, "thinking about going?"

"I don't know... maybe? Like you said, the Tower of AI is a three day trip and the news about being the Messiah just came right at me like lightning. I don't know if I can do it. Maybe I should-"

She turns her head away, but he immediately catches her off guard when he takes her hands. He clasps his hands over her own, which are pressed together by his. Bewildered by the moment, she can only stare at his soft, cerulean eyes looking right at her, complementing his sympathetic smile.

She feels a warmth slowly flood into her palms. Len had this distinct, warm feeling from his hands that she can't seem to describe. The words for it are wedged between her throat and they melt away the minute this warmness reaches her.

The sensation washes over and she suddenly feels calm. The tranquility leaves her mind in a state of peace, her worries seemingly all forgotten.

"Are you okay now?" he asks softly.

Miku gulps and is quick to respond with a nod. They're silent once more and she can hear his steady breathing unsynchronized with hers. Her gaze trails down to their hands, where she can easily compare how small and dainty hers were to his.

"Miku, look at me." She snaps out of it and follows his request. "Look into my eyes and tell me: what are you going to do?"

The sapphire blue of his irises are captivating. For a second, she doesn't feel pressured to choose between Messiah or not, because by the warmth of his hands and the concentrated blue of his eyes, she feels the answer swimming in the pit of her stomach.

"I... I'll be the Messiah. I'll go to the Tower of AI and be this world's next Messiah."

Len grins at the now-confident Miku, who can't seem to be more proud of what she'd said.

"Finally I got the sheep to start eating," Rin swings open the fence gates, pulling herself over to the two using her staff like a cane. "Man, you're nudging them for ten minutes and they don't even budge. Gosh, Len, why'd we decide to put up with sheep?"

He bobs his head at Miku and lets go of his grip. Len grabs his crook leaned against the fence and chases after Rin, who was already walking towards the village. Once he arrives at Rin's side, he stops and turns to the tealette.

"Oh, and Miku, it's not too late to back down."

She grins slyly. "I'm not looking back."

Len smiles and continues his trudge with Rin to the Village of Youth.

- × * . * × -

Miku reaches a hand in her small brown bag and pushes against the sides, trying to expand the space to fit more items in. With her alternate hand, she takes the roll of bandages from her pile of things she planned on bringing, and placed it inside.

She glares at the contents of her bag, narrowing her eyes when she glances back at her pile. Maybe she should cut down on bringing the unimportant things...

Now unable to decide what she should and shouldn't take with her, Miku looks at her friends across the room. A few of them are in a small circle on the floor while the remainder are leaning against the walls near the rest. They're discussing something that she can't make out, but if she wasn't included in the discussion, it was best to let it be.

Returning to the giant pile, she puts a hand under her chin to think.

"So, you're really going through with this?"

After some minutes of spacing out, Miku notices Ia inspecting the bag and the mess the tealette had created on the table.

"Yeah. Someone's gotta be the Messiah and if I was chosen, I guess that leaves me no choice."

Ia nods her head as if to say she understands. But without picking up their conversation, she turns away to grab her own bag, gently drops it beside Miku's, and begins taking stuff from the pile.

"What are you doing?" Miku queries.

Ia firmly replies, "Packing up."

"For what?"

"You think we're letting you go to the Tower of AI by yourself? Don't be silly, we won't let you go alone; we're coming with you."

A/N:

No, that was not LenKu and this fanfic is not LenKu. Miku and Len's relationship in this isn't romantic at all. All it is is just a very close friendship in which, if Miku is ever in doubt, she feels that Len is the person she can always come to. He's definitely one of her closest friends out of the other nine, so yes. Very close, but not romantic at all. (And dang, that's probably the closest you'll ever get to me writing LenKu.)

That part was also just my way of explaining Len's relation with his blessing. You most likely already noticed, but I've mentioned everyone's but Mayu's, Ia's, and Gumi's in the first chapter. (The other three will be in the next, or any of the ones after.)

And yolo for this update because I needed to update a fic in a while. (I only pre-wrote half of the next chapter, so...) Ahh, and this is my first time basing a fanfic solely on a song (not counting P&SB because that's two songs and takes place after both of 'em), so I kinda want to know if I'm doing good so far in writing "Blessed Messiah and the Tower of AI." Please? Just a bit of somethin' to motivate me or to tell me what I can do better.

The next two(?) chapters are a bit of fluff, but important fluff, about them on the three day journey. I've been pretty nervous to publish those parts because I know people won't read and/or like them as much... but, 'ey, what else can you do as a fanfiction author?