Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.

- John F. Kennedy

I'm apologizing in advance for any mistakes that I make. (I literally just typed apologizing as apologixing. (I fixed it though, no worries ;) 😂 )) It's like 2 am and I probably should be going to sleep. BUT I'm really inspired right now and I can't help it. Without further adieu, I hope you enjoy.

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I sprinted towards Levin's house after informing Dante about the situation first. He was already in the building, just taking a nap because I told him he also needed rest. Once I told him, he looked terrified but put on a confident face, telling me to inform Levin immediately while he contacted everyone else.

I reached the door, my heart beating quickly and my adrenaline running. All I could hear was my pounding heartbeat. I stuck the key I had in the door and turned it, unlocking the entrance. I harshly pushed the door to make it open and I rushed up the stairs.

Levin looked so peaceful while sleeping, it kind of hurt me to wake him up with such unpleasant news. But, I had to tell him and quickly, we didn't have much time. I harshly shook him awake. "Woah, woah, calm down," Levin mumbled, trying to swat away my hands, "What's the rush?"

"Levin," I cried, fear almost taking over me, "they're here."

With that, he bolted right out of bed, not wasting any valuable time we had left. "We have to get armor and weapons from the guard tower," He spoke. Halfway down the stairs, he turned towards me, "This is your last chance to retreat to Aphmau's village. Are you sure you want to stay here?"

"Absolutely. I want to protect my home."

Levin nodded and turned back, rushing out of the house. He hid his disappointment about me not choosing to go to different place and I understood him. Who would want someone they love to get hurt? But that's exactly why I'm staying here and fighting. If Levin's going to go down in battle, I'm going to go down with him.

"Did you inform Dante?" Levin asked me once we reached the guard tower.

"Yes, I informed him first since he was the closest one to me. He said he was going to contact everyone else while I went to get you. He nodded, listening to every word I said. We both climbed up the ladder, grabbing supplies that we needed for ourselves since everyone else already had theirs. I, of course, grabbed my special (Favorite Sword) sword. After thinking about it for a while I grabbed (Favorite bow) bow as a long range weapon.

"I'm ready," I said as I turned around to see Levin grabbing his sword.

"I'm ready too."

I smiled at him and hugged him one last time before he started to rush down the ladder. He abruptly stopped, looking back at me. "If anything happens to you, head to Aphmau's village and make sure no one sees you. Seek refuge there and they will take care of you."

I nodded, smiling at him to try to calm him down a bit. In an instant, he was gone, running to the gate to meet the guards there. I stayed in the tower and looked out into the dark sky. "Lady Irene," I spoke out loud, "I know you're somewhere. Please look over us and protect us. I don't want to have my home burned down again..." I lowered my head. 'This is crazy, I am asking protection to someone who's not there.'

All of a sudden, a voice responds in my head. The same voice that talked to me when I was at the Irene statue. The same voice that told me to tell Levin about my horrible past. The voice that even made me realize that I loved him...

'I'm here.'

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I kind of left this chapter on a cliffhanger and I am sorry about that. This is not the last chapter, don't worry. (Unless you want it to be the last chapter.)  It's just I am planning to put a fighting scene and to be honest, I have never written one before so I need some more practice on that. Because of that, I split the last chapter into two chapters. I hope you don't mind! I'm not promising I'm going to post the last chapter later today but just keep an eye out for it! I don't know when I'm going to finish it! Anyways I hope you liked this chapter and as always, have a good day (or night) Reader~Chans!

- Author~Chan

Another note - If you haven't read the first book and went straight to this book, you won't really understand the 'voice' part of this story. I would recommend just checking the first book out if you really want to understand it. But, if you don't that's totally fine. I understand. 😂 I would probably be like, 'I have another book to read? How many chapters is it? 31?! Oh, this better be good.'