Noble couldn't say exactly what had woken her in the middle of the night. Looking back, she thought it might have been her mother's muffled sob. But in the moment, the youth only knew that something was very, very wrong.
Giving into the irresistible urge, Noble made her way down the hall to her parents' bedroom. They were having an emotional conversation.
"But our home. All of our things!" The feminine voice was beside herself. Noble could not remember ever hearing her mother sound so hysterical.
"They are just things, Lena…Hopefully, we can come back when everything settles down." Lance tried to calm his wife.
"But you don't think it will calm down or you wouldn't be making us leave like thieves in the night. What will the neighbors think?" Lena sniffed back another sob. "Surely the government has a plan to make this all be alright."
"We didn't even know a Category Five Gate was possible until today. The things coming out of there... they knocked out any communication we had. The little information we got was that the Nightmare Creatures coming from there were Great ones, perhaps even Cursed! This is the worst thing we have ever seen. I need to get to the NQSC as soon as possible and rally any help I can. And I'm not leaving you two behind." Lance's voice was calm but firm.
"It is going to look like our family is running away with our tails between our legs." The censure in Lena's voice was not lost on her daughter. Her mother was very proud of her homeland and did not like the idea of abandoning it.
Lance's voice became strained. "We are the closest city to the Gate. Those creatures seek out humans. If we don't get out now, we may not be able to get out at all."
There was a scuffling sound. Peeking through the door, Noble saw her father digging through his suitcase and retrieving his communicator. He looked down at it with a complicated expression.
"What?" Lena stopped her own packing and bit her lip.
"I just got word. Immortal Flame is coming." Lance adjusted his glasses as he read the message again.
His wife gasped, "Here?"
"North America," Lance corrected her. He put down the phone, even more intent on his packing.
"The most powerful Master in the world is coming to help. That's good right?" Lena was confused by her husband's actions.
"Traveling by boat, he won't be here for at least two weeks even on the fastest ship. That means they don't think the situation will be handled by then. Attached to that message was my evacuation order. It's no longer a choice. We are leaving." Lance zipped up his bag, seeming to forget his communicator was inside. "I'll wake Noble. She needs to pack."
"But I have school tomorrow!" Noble startled her parents with her outburst.
Lena wiped the tears from her face. She looked at her husband and shook her head slowly. "You won't be going to school tomorrow."
"There will probably not be any school tomorrow." Lance rubbed his forehead. "Pack your things, we leave in an hour."
"But our family!" Noble thought of her uncles, aunts, and cousins. "BB!"
"They are all packing too. I added them to the list for evacuation as soon as I knew it existed. They will ride the train with us tonight. When we get to the coast, we will all head out on a military ship."
"Ship? We are going on a ship?!" Noble had never been outside the Siege Capital and now she was going on a ship! "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Yes," her father answered as he lifted his suitcase off the bed. "You get one bag. Two if you can carry them both yourself. I recommend mostly clothing."
Noble's vision blurred with tears. "But..."
Lance looked at his daughter and his businesslike demeanor shattered. He wrapped the girl up in his arms followed shortly by Lena.
They stood like that for a long time, tears running down their faces.
At last, Lance cleared his throat. "It will be alright. I may be overreacting a bit just because I love you both so much. This is just going to be a diplomatic mission. And with the whole family there, we can make it a vacation too. Surely the American Masters can hold off the gate until Immortal Flame arrives. Then we will come home and live our lives having had a grand adventure."
The others took his words with small nods.
"I'll go pack," Noble's mind raced with the things she would and would not need.
The rest of the night went quickly and before she knew it, Noble and the rest of her family were on a train whizzing away from the capital towards the coast.
The railcar was well maintained though a bit crowded. Because Nightmare Gates could open in the water, fewer and fewer people enjoyed the luxury of living by the coast.
Noble's father had enjoyed trips to the sea as a child, but she had never seen the water herself. That part of the journey filled her with the tiniest bit of excitement.
The train ride would take a couple of days, but Noble didn't mind. Her whole family was in the train car with her. The bulk of the passenger train was filled with government officials and their families.
If Noble had been older and wiser, she would have wondered what strings were pulled to get so many of Lance's loved ones on this special transport.
But Noble simply looked out the window at the passing landscape and then turned to her eldest cousin with a pained expression. "I am sorry your father couldn't come."
"He is in the military and they needed him. It just means he and I will have more to tell each other when we meet again." BB assured her.
Noble nodded. "I'm glad you didn't try to join him."
"Oh, I tried, but mom wouldn't let me. I'm not eighteen yet. If this is still a problem next month, you can be sure I will join up and help him." BB placed his hand on his heart.
"I hope it is over before then. I don't think I would like the way you look in a uniform," Noble scrunched her nose, earning a smile from her older cousin.
He rubbed her head and she pushed away his hand. "Why do you always mess up my hair?!"
"How else am I supposed to show my affection?" BB winked.
"A compliment here or there would be nice," the girl stuck out her tongue.
They fell silent just in time for Noble to hear her father's hushed conversation behind her.
"How is that even possible? No Nightmare Creatures should be able to travel so fast."
The other man shrugged. "All I know is I've lost contact with Army Command back home. The last transmission I got was that a creature and its minions had reached the city walls."
"Maybe they were from another Gate. Surely..." Lance heaved a heavy sigh.
"Is that better or worse? Either way, our home is under a serious attack."
Lance stood. "You are right. And if they are under attack, we are in danger as well. I'll get a message to the engineer and order him to go faster."
"You think he will listen?" The second man's bushy eyebrows rose in surprise.
Lance shrugged. "If he doesn't want us all to be devoured, he's got no choice."