Aquila opened her eyes. She was lying in a cot inside what appeared to be a large tent. A warm blanket covered her legs and belly. Sticking out of her arm was a plastic tube attached to an empty blood bag on an elevated stand. A couple more empty bags lay discarded on the floor. Sleeping on a chair, her head resting against Aquila’s side on the cot, was Kasumi. A privacy curtain had been drawn around them.

    A dull pain throbbed through her leg. Aquila frowned. Kasumi stirred and looked up at her. Her eyes were red and puffy.

    “Thank the gods, you’re finally awake,” Kasumi said, taking hold of Aquila’s hand and squeezing.

    Aquila winced. The pain was getting worse. “Where am I? Why does my leg hurt so much?”

    “You were wounded,” Kasumi replied. “You’re in a tent at the aid station.”

    Aquila frowned again. She searched her memories, but nothing came up.

    Kasumi’s eyes teared up. “You almost died three times last night. They needed two healers to keep you alive. They nearly had to amputate the leg too.”

    Aquila blinked and pulled off the blanket. A jagged scar marked the inside of the back of her right thigh. “I got hit?”

    Kasumi nodded. “Cap cauterized the wound and brought you in.”

    Aquila searched her memories again. Still nothing. “I’ll have to thank him for that, I guess.”

    Kasumi buried her head in her hands. “Please stop doing this. I’ll do anything.”

    Aquila blinked. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

    “Being reckless!” Kasumi cried. “I’ve almost lost you three times since we left home. I can’t...I can’t lose you. I need my hero.”

    “I’m not a hero,” Aquila said.

    “You are to me!” Kasumi declared. “That’s what I drew you to be – the hero who could save me!”

    “But I did, didn’t I?” Aquila said. “My miracle brought you back to life, and I got you to safety before your world could erase you.”

    Kasumi shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

    Aquila stared down at her hands. “I guess I don’t.”

    “I didn’t jump from that building because somebody forced me to,” Kasumi said. “Nobody was bullying me, or driving me to kill myself. I’ve got severe chronic depression. I jumped because all I could see were the storm clouds in my mind and living didn’t feel worthwhile anymore, and I felt like nobody would miss me when I was gone anyway.

    “When I drew you, I poured all of my hopes and dreams into you. I drew you to be the hero who could keep my storm clouds away. And on one of the few days where my mind was clear, I shared you, and everybody who saw you loved you. And I thought maybe that might be enough to keep the storm clouds away, at least for a little while. But it wasn’t. They came back, just like they always did.”

    Tears ran down Kasumi’s face. “That day I climbed to the top of that building, part of me wished that I would find you waiting for me, that you would hold my hand and tell me that the storm clouds would pass. That you would save me. But you weren’t there. And deep down inside, I knew you couldn’t be there – characters you draw don’t come to life and save you.”

    “I came into your world to find you,” Aquila muttered. “But I was six months too late. If I’d been on time, I would have been on that roof for you.”

    Kasumi gave her a brittle smile. “I know. Whatever else you are or have done, you’re still my hero. After I jumped, and the miracle happened, and I found myself in your arms, I knew that I had been saved...that my hero did come to life and rescue me. And the storm clouds have been gone for a long time now. But, they’re never far away. They will be back someday. Sometimes I can feel them closing in. There will never be a day when I don’t need you to be able to save me.”

    “I don’t know how to fix that,” Aquila said. “I don’t know how to make your storm clouds go away for good.”

    “I don’t need you to fix it,” Kasumi stated. “I need you to be with me while I weather it. I need you to remind me that they will pass, and to hold and comfort me when it gets too tough for me to bear. That’s how I need you to save me.”

    Aquila stared at her hands again. “I’m sorry for putting you through all this. If I’d known, I would have been much more careful.”

    “Just promise me that you’ll never leave me.”

    Aquila took Kasumi’s hand and squeezed it. “I swear that I will never leave you.”

    They turned as the privacy curtain opened. A young man with an unruly beard in blood-stained robes stood before them.

    “He’s one of the healers who saved you last night,” Kasumi said.

    Aquila nodded at him. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

    “You’re very welcome,” the healer said. “It was a long night. Most of your body was already shutting down from blood loss when you were brought to us. But, we were able to reverse it, although we nearly lost you more than once. And, we were able to save the leg. You’re lucky you’re as tough as you are – I’ve never seen anybody survive anything like this.”

    Aquila looked at Kasumi and cracked a faint smile. “See? I told you I’m not fragile.”

    “You’re going to need to keep weight off the leg while it heals for at least a few days,” the healer stated. “We’ll get you a crutch so you can move around. Your body is also going to need time to heal, so you need to get lots of rest, and no strenuous activity, and that includes the use of magic. We find that eating red meat helps as well, although none of us are sure why.”

    Aquila nodded. “I’ll want that crutch as soon as possible. Did we win the battle?”

    The healer shrugged. “We’re still here, so I guess so.” He turned to Kasumi. “Captain Infinite wanted you to know that something seems to be happening just outside of the wall. He said you might want to see it.”

    “Thank you,” Kasumi said. “I’ll be up in a moment.”

    “I’m coming too,” Aquila stated, sitting up. Her head swam. She closed her eyes until it stopped, then opened them again. The healer was placing a crutch by her cot. She stared at her bare legs. “Wait...what happened to my pants and coat?”

    “They were soaked with your blood,” Kasumi said. “I’m sorry, they weren’t salvageable. I’ll draw you some new ones.”

    Aquila looked at Kasumi in alarm. “My coat, it had–”

    Kasumi raised her hand. “It’s okay – I made sure all the pockets were emptied first. They’re in a bag under your cot. The ring is there too.”

    Aquila breathed a sigh of relief. “The new coat...can it be–”

    Kasumi smiled. “It will be exactly like the last one.”

    “Good,” Aquila said. “I really loved that coat.”

Daiki stood behind the parapet with Athena on one side and Cap on the other. Some of the bodies had been cleared from the field, but not many. In the middle of a small clearing, a squad of demonic soldiers under a white flag erected a large tent.

    “Looks like it worked,” Cap said. “He wants to talk.”

    Daiki nodded. He felt Athena tug at his sleeve. He looked to find her pointing a bit down the wall. On a crutch, Aquila was slowly making her way towards them, Kasumi supporting her as she went.

    “She looks really pale,” Athena muttered.

    Daiki nodded again and looked at Cap. “You got your wish,” he said. “No Seven Samurai.”

    Cap looked at him, and then back at Aquila. “Thank God for that.”

    Aquila stopped before them and smiled. Athena embraced her. “We were so worried about you,” she said.

    “Apparently I had a rough night,” Aquila said, returning the embrace with her free arm. “I’m afraid I don’t remember very much of it, though.”

    “There were a lot of prayers said on your behalf,” Daiki said.

    Aquila smiled again. “They must have worked. So, what’s happening? Did we succeed?”

    Athena nodded. “They want to talk. They’re setting up the tent right now.”

    Aquila hobbled over to the parapet and looked out at the battlefield. Her shoulders slumped. “So, Cap,” she said, “is there room in that promise of yours for one more?”

    Cap gave her a kind smile. “Always.”

    Aquila turned and leaned against the crenelation. “Good. I killed a lot of people yesterday. None of them deserved it.”

    “Same here.”

    “And I...I enjoyed it once it started.”

    “That happens to a lot of people. Even the good ones.”

    Aquila took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I can ever be like you, Cap. But, I think I’m ready to try...I want to try. So, nobody else dies at my hands.” Kasumi took her free hand with both of hers and squeezed it. Aquila looked at her and smiled.

    “I’ll help if I can,” Cap said. “It’s going to be hard, though. Every time you have to fight somebody, the temptation will be there to just end them.”

    Aquila shrugged. “Only if you end up fighting. Powers of a god, remember? I’ve got a lot of ways to protect myself and the people I care about without fighting.”

    Cap nodded and looked out at the battlefield again. “There,” he said to Daiki, pointing, “that’s your Devil King.”

    Daiki looked. A small formation of demonic soldiers were walking towards the tent.

    “I’m sorry, I don’t see it,” Daiki said. “They’re all dressed the same.”

    “The one in the centre,” Cap stated. “They’re all deferring to him.”

    “But that’s just a common soldier.”

    Cap shook his head. “That’s a commanding officer. I think your creator was an American military history buff. I served under generals like that during the war. That’s your Devil King, I’m certain of it.”