A Devil's Grace 1930

| Chapter Eight |

Just how long would it take for the enemy to notice that they were no longer taking the predestined flight path? Was this all a part of their plan? Was this atlas supposed to fall into their hands? Who knows, Valen surely didn't know.

It was hard to think anything other than god was against them. While nothing was quickly becoming apparent to them, and there was no one currently following them, they didn't feel safe.

Sadly the whole reason they had come to the Unified States was to feel safe, to make sure she was safe. He didn't really mind living a life on the run since he had been doing so ever since he had left the Empire.

Now there was no Empire and there was no war, except for the covert war against communism.

Moving from treetop to treetop, Colonel Tanya kept her eyes forward. They were using the bare minimal magical output to remain undetected while they at the same time stayed off the ground and out of sight. 

Her life had changed a number of times, not that she remembered everything. Dying, being reborn, having a new name. Magic being the norm in both life and war. 

For her, it had become blurred in figuring out which was which. How many years had she been at war? How old was she since she started? She could only blame all this on one being, Being-X.

Her blue eyes rested on the mountainous regions of Virginia which dotted their path. Massive hills covered in trees, roads that went into underground tunnels. 

If they really wanted to hide, it would be the easiest just to hang out around in the rural areas of this state in particular. Yet, would that be a normal life? She wasn't quite sure of that.

She had already been living in a suburban area away from the city, though that may have been an easier place to live. Though if many people see your face, than there are many people who could sell your name and location.

Even in a world where there was limited information technologies, there was plenty of ways to find people who didn't want to be found. Though she was pretty sure it was 'divine' intervention that had lead Loria's men to find her new peachy life.

The fact the bastard couldn't give her any room to breathe was exceptionally bothersome. If she had accepted Being-X as he creator, would this had ended by now? Or would he had just let her be slain?

In all forms, God had been depicted as neither Good nor Evil in scripture. Though in some ways, God was always the doer of good and the Devil was the doer of evil.

Personally she didn't really understand the concept all that much. From the time she came from, over eighty percent of the Japanese inhabitance were Shinto, and more than seventeen percent didn't even bother to answer the demographic consensus or refused to identify.

Shintoism wasn't a religion, as religion meant a dogma that Shinto didn't have, it was a faith and an aspect of everyday Japanese Life for those who wanted it.

Looking to Valen, they seemed to be keeping their eyes forward as well. They had their progress synced, it felt as if they had been working together as a unit. It was hard to tell how long they had been working together considering the fast they've adapted. 

All the same, the treetops seemed to just multiply one after another. The wooded areas weren't really getting thinner. Though there were wide gaps around cities and towns, there was a lot of rural Virginia.

Thankfully both of them served in militant organizations and often practiced sleep deprivation. Their operation hours could completely outlast those of a simple operative of the Russ' Federation or a simple civilian sleeper agent.