The small book was so old barely anything was visible on its darkened pages anymore.

I tilted the book, to get an angle on the pages, and stepped closer to the window for more sunlight.

Once the sun hit the page a little better, and at an angle, I was finally able to make out some of the stuff long ago inked onto the page.

There were words… and some kind of illustration. An image had been drawn, taking up most of the page, and…

For a few moments my mind was numb, and then a memory filled my head. One where I was sitting next to Witch at a desk, reading a book with brightly painted flowers and their names and descriptions upon it. Witch had enjoyed teaching, and even more so about stuff she herself had found interesting. Flowers were one of those things.

“Hm…? Do you recognize this one too?” Elaine asked.

I nodded and lowered the book. “It had been about flowers. There had been lifelike drawings of them, and breakdowns of their names and origins… and a few notes on how to properly cultivate them, and their uses,” I said as I closed the book carefully.

A book I’d once held so long ago. Hundreds of years ago.

It was strange. It made the book seem heavy. Important. Should I ask to keep it…? But it wasn’t even legible anymore. Maybe I could repaint and rewrite the details, though?

If I did that though, would it be the same book? If I replaced the pages, redrew it and rewrote everything… was it the same book Witch had made all those years ago?

“How fascinating. Are all of your kind capable of such memory, Renn?” Elaine asked as I lowered the book and glanced out the window.

“I’ve been told by many that no, it’s not normal,” I said as I studied the world outside.

We were on the second floor, and the window I stood before was a circular one. It was nicer in quality and craftsmanship than the windows in Cat’s house, but not by much. The pile of wood Vim had made throughout the morning was visible not far from the house, but I knew there was no point in looking for Vim.

He was downstairs, hammering at the floor he had broken. He’d ripped up some other boards, separate from the ones he’d broken, claiming he needed to replace them too for his fix to be proper. I think he was just trying to distract himself, and… well…

I smiled at the sound of him hammering a nail, and decided later on I’d give him a kiss. Or do something sweet for him.

He kept adding work to his load, on purpose. He had finished fixing that chair, and the spot in the floor he had broken, a couple hours ago. Yet was still working and fixing stuff, and based off where the sounds were coming from… he was now on the other side of the room from where he’d broken the floor. Fixing something else entirely.

One did not need to wonder long why he kept finding things to fix. It was obvious, even without it being said.

For me.

To let me have time.

It was such a gentle kindness. It really was.

Turning away from the window, I smiled at the saint who was sitting on the couch nearby. There was another couch across from her, which I had been sitting in earlier.

“It’s quite an ability, honestly. I can remember my dreams, flawlessly and perfectly. Even the ones I had in my youth. But for the life of me I can barely remember much else anymore. Grenna had to remind me of the hole your husband made, I had nearly walked into it,” Elaine said with a small chuckle.

Although she seemed to be laughing it off, and not intending to, my heart still stung a little. It had been rude of Vim to break her home as he had done, but… well…

Unable to remember such a thing? After only a single night? It had been rather dramatic too, since Vim had done it loudly and with great motion. How cold one forget such a thing so quickly?

“Vim is forgettable sometimes, so it’s okay,” I said, making light of it too… or at least, trying to, as I stepped away from the window and went to sit across from Elaine in the other couch.

As I sat, I placed the book down onto the small box table between us. It belonged on the shelf behind me, but I was still debating asking if I could keep it or not. There were other books on the shelf, likewise similar books passed down through Elaine’s family over the generations, and I knew several were similar to the one about flowers. Books that Witch had either made herself, or acquired along her journeys.

I wanted them. For some reason. But I knew they didn’t truly belong to me.

I had been her friend. She had been my teacher…

But they were her children.

And to me that meant they were more important. That meant they had more of a claim to them than I did… even if it seemed they didn’t read them at all, or keep them safe. Though how one kept a book safe from age was something I didn’t know.

“Forgettable… yes. I can see why you’d say such a thing. He’s not ugly, by no means, but he’s not the most handsome man either. Though I suppose it’s hard to compare him, when standing next to you. You’re beautiful, and youthful. It’s almost a sin that you can stay so young and pretty even though so much older than me,” Elaine said with a smirk.

I smiled at her and nodded. She’d mentioned this many times already. Either she really was forgetful, which was growing ever more likely to believe by the moment, or she was genuinely jealous and not just making a small comment. She seemed to find it interesting that he and I were so old, yet looked so youthful.

“It almost makes me wonder if you are a saint, just in your own way. You have what seems to be eternal youth, a mind incomparable, and have the affection of the Great One,” she said with a small sigh.

“I’m no saint. If I am, I’ve never realized it. And I’ve been meaning to ask, now that we got a moment alone… what do you mean when you call him that? Great One?” I asked.

It had been bugging me all night, but between Cat, her daughter, and Vim’s strangeness, I’d not gotten a chance to ask yet.

Elaine frowned at me. “You… don’t know?”

I shook my head.

“Hm… interesting,” Elaine mumbled for a moment, and then looked down and away from me. Her eyes dulled a little, telling me she had gone into deep thought, and then she refocused on me. “The term is one I heard from other saints. I’ve met five others throughout my life, including my aunt before me,” Elaine said.

Oh…? “You mean they told you of Vim?” I asked.

She nodded rather simply, as if surprised I’d even ask such a thing. “Yes?”

“Do… do you mean they knew Vim? Met him before? Did you know a Celine?” I asked, trying to understand.

“Yes. I met Celine. She came to ask for an orb of darkness,” Elaine said with a nod.

I groaned.

Reaching up, I covered my face and wanted to scream. Why hadn’t she said that sooner!

No. Maybe it was my fault. None of us had mentioned Celine to her. Neither I, nor Lilly, and especially not Vim. Lilly and I had explained the Society to her, roughly, but hadn’t gone into that level of detail.

“I wonder if I should be surprised you know other saints. I shouldn’t, of course, not just because of whom you’re married to but also who you are yourself,” Elaine said lightly.

Oh. “I didn’t know Celine. She passed away before I got to meet her,” I said as my mind whirled.

Should I tell Vim? I should. But should I go get him now, or first find out what I could from her…? Knowing Vim he’d not let me ask certain questions, or make us leave sooner, if he knew.

“Really now…? Interesting. Well, so yes. I’ve heard about him from other saints. A few met him personally, others had prophecies about him. His title is simple, he’s one capable of fighting on par with the servants of the gods. Those you call monarchs. Plus he’s ancient. Unless, like us saints, his title and abilities are passed down generationally as well,” Elaine said as she frowned at her own words. She must have found the idea very believable.

I kept the truth from slipping out of my mouth as I shifted and grabbed my tail. For comfort.

Hopefully Vim couldn’t hear us. We weren’t talking too loudly, but we weren’t whispering either. He was still banging below, but I knew better than to think that’d be enough to keep him from hearing.

I had many questions. Now some very serious ones, after learning not only had she met Celine… but had gotten my ancestor’s heart from her, too.

“What do they say…? When they talk about him?” I asked first.

“The Great One? Just that you should not make him an enemy. Seek him out if you need the help of the gods, but fear him if the gods wish you dead. As I’m sure you know Renn, a lot of us put our warnings and teachings into ambiguous stories and allegories, so who knows what most of them meant. I can’t really remember specifics anymore… I just remember being told about him. I’m rather shocked he’s your husband, but maybe that’s just how the world works. It’s not as big as so many think, after all,” Elaine said happily.

I didn’t want to hear that. Or well, I did. Kind of. But I had wanted to hear something more specific.

“What about Celine…? You said she came to find an orb of darkness?” I asked.

“Indeed. It was one of the few treasures left by the Saint to our family. But she had a dire need of it, one concerning her prophecies. I had no reason to doubt her, since there would have been no way she could have known of its existence otherwise. We had buried it deep under the house, to the point not even the greatest of saints could have seen it,” Elaine said.

Oh.

Right.

I felt the hairs on my tail stand up a little as I remembered I carried that very heart right now. Hidden in the monarch pouch.

Did… did she know? If she could see them, then surely, right? Why would she not just point at me and say so then?

“I’ve heard of that. That the orbs glow, kind of like your eyes do, to saints,” I said carefully, seeing if I could get an answer from her without actually asking for one.

Elaine nodded. “Glowed so bright it was annoying, really. I’m told they are the hearts of gods. Not hard to imagine, what with the swirling power within them. I never asked what she really needed it for, or maybe I did and just don’t remember, but it had seemed important. She had a terribly sad look on her face when I had handed it to her…” Elaine went quiet, and I watched as she realized something. “How quaint. I remember it perfectly. She had looked as if she was about to weep, while holding that dark orb. I’ve not thought of that moment in years,” she mumbled gently as she remembered the moment in her mind.

My tail coiled in my hand, once again not liking what I was hearing.

Celine. Crying. As she was handed my ancestor’s heart.

Why?

No. Maybe I knew why…

Even if Vim would never admit it, since he so firmly believed she had tricked and abused his loyalty for her own gain.

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Her letters had not said it directly, but I had read the truth. Between the lines. Between the little notes and prophecies.

Celine had genuinely loved Vim. Even while she tricked him, she had still loved him.

The only reason she would have got my ancestor’s heart, was for me. To leave it for me. With her letters.

Which meant she had likely nearly cried, since it was proof. Proof that her prophecies had been real. That I had been real.

“Did she visit often?” I asked gently.

Elaine shook her head. “Just that once.”

Somehow that made me feel even sadder.

Though… that meant Celine had known of her. Met her. “Wait… how long ago was this?” I asked. Hasn’t Celine been dead for a long time?

“I’d been a child back then, but probably a hundred years? Maybe more?” Elaine said as she thought about it.

A… hundred years…?

Hasn’t Celine been dead for far beyond that…? Maybe I should go get Vim.

“It could have been longer ago, Renn. We saints don’t live as long as your kind, but we don’t die as quickly as the rest of us humans,” Elaine told me, likely noticing my worry.

Oh. Right. Witch had lived longer than normal too, if I really thought about it. I had never paid much attention to the passage of time back then while I was with her, but I knew without a doubt it had been similar. Far longer than just a few decades.

“Was she important? You never met her, yet are that worried about her?” Elaine asked, noticing what I was likely doing a terrible job of hiding.

I nodded slowly. “Celine had been a part of the Society. Our Society. It’s just… odd to hear her name brought up here, since you’re not a part of it,” I explained.

If she wasn’t going to acknowledge the heart on my waist, then there was no point to bring it up I guess.

“Hm… it’s not surprising you’d have a few saints. You said you had some in Telmik? Cat mentioned one too, someone no one liked?” Elaine asked with a smile.

“The Chronicler, she’s called. I wouldn’t say she isn’t liked… she’s just… odd. She’s very loyal to her church, to the point that some of our members don’t get along well with her. They don’t see eye to eye,” I explained.

“Ah. Yes. The Church of Sisters. Or was it Songs?” Elaine wondered.

“I’ve heard it called both,” I said.

“Hm. Probably separate branches under the same religion. No matter… other than Celine most of the other saints I’ve met all had their own destinies. They visited for a short time, then ran off to fulfill whatever task they had been sent upon. I’ll be honest, I’m kind of glad that I’ve not ever gotten such dreams. Barring the hint I’m destined to send you on your own task of importance,” Elaine said.

I nodded. We had talked about it. Even with Vim.

She had a dream. One of her prophecies, long ago. About me. The first had been about us meeting, my walking through the door with Vim… which I hadn’t done. I had entered with Lilly, not Vim. The other dream though was one of parting. She, in her dream, had hugged me and bade me farewell… as I marched off to face a great evil. A powerful being, similar to the great chicken monarch that was burning down the world she had foreseen.

I honestly wasn’t too worried about it, since I had Vim. Whatever great evil we needed to face, I could rely on Vim for it. But… it told me that our story together wasn’t finished.

Vim had spoken as if Elaine was old. Old enough to die at any moment… which may be true, but if she still needed to have the dream that she’d share with me as to fulfill the other one about sending me off to fulfill a task, then her death couldn’t be too near.

Truthfully I was likely just the mechanism to send Vim on the proper path. He’d have likely never come here, to meet her, had I not got involved with him. Which meant he’d never had heard or been told of such prophecies. So my being here, my existence, was not to solve that problem… just to delegate Vim to it.

I was more than okay with that. Since I really didn’t like pain or to suffer. And I knew from experience that facing monarchs was not something one did without such sacrifices.

Unless you were Vim, at least.

Though that wasn’t a fair assessment. Vim did fail. He did get hurt. To the point that his injuries would kill a normal man… even a non-human one. He just didn’t seem to let such wounds and pain bother him.

“Was that the only heart Witch left you?” I asked.

“Heart…? Oh the orbs? Yes. Why?”

I shrugged. “We had hunted several elders. So just wondered,” I said.

“Ah… yes. You did, didn’t you? Is that what you do with your husband, then? Travel around hunting gods?” she asked.

Well… “No?”

“Hm…” Elaine frowned at me, as if not willing to believe me.

Just what did she think I was? Some kind of warrior? Or like Vim?

“Speaking of glowing orbs… I’ve been told that Vim looks like the opposite. Within him. That he looks like a dark hole, something that should have light but doesn’t,” I said as I reached up to cup my hands, in front of my chest where my heart was.

“Hm…? Yes. All creatures glow, to a point. Not like that orb, of course. But we do. Your husband indeed doesn’t. Though I’d not say that means he has no soul, rather his just doesn’t glow,” Elaine said.

“You call it a soul?” I asked.

“I know not what else to call it. For reference,” Elaine pointed at me as she spoke. “Yours glows brightly. Far brighter than any of ours, or those I’ve seen. To the point it’s almost as if you’re a saint in my eyes. But maybe not as bright. It’s hard to remember how bright the others were, since I have to focus to see the brightness,” Elaine said.

Oh…? “I’m bright?” I asked.

She nodded. “Verily.”

Maybe it was the heart! She just thought it was me!

Strange. It was at my waist. Almost near my butt. Yet she was speaking as if it was a glow from my chest. Maybe it wasn’t a glow one could actually see, but instead sensed. Like how I could somehow see the world around me even in pitch black darkness, even when unable to make out finer details. Like knowing where a ledge was, or a tree, even though you could not actually see it.

“Your friend, Lilly, had glowed brighter too. But not as much as you. Maybe you non-humans simply glow brighter, being descendants of the gods?” Elaine wondered.

Huh… maybe she wasn’t speaking of the heart then. Unless Lilly carried one around too.

I wonder why she couldn’t see or sense it.

Maybe it was because of the pouch it was in. The monarch leather.

“Speaking of your husband… may I ask something a little personal?” Elaine then asked, changing topics.

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Can I trust him? Your husband?”

I smiled at her. “Yes. At least, concerning what he speaks of. If you mean his offer for support and aid, then yes, verily.. Vim is many things, but he’s most importantly a man of his word… and he is also an enemy of monarchs. In his perspective you two are now allies in a battle, a war almost, against them. So he’ll treat you as one, not to mention his affection for me will leak over and spread to you and the rest here too,” I said.

“But he would harm us, wouldn’t he? If he found us to be threats, for one reason or another?” she asked.

I slowly nodded, unable to deny it. “Yes. But… you’d have to really threaten me, or the Society, for that to happen. To a point that you’d have to suddenly become cruel and unusual, nothing like you are now,” I said.

“And this war? That your Society is about to endure? You and Cat mentioned it is having strife. Internal strife,” Elaine asked.

I sighed as I nodded again, this time just as begrudgingly. “Yes… it’s a problem. But, it’s one that’s happened before. I can’t honestly say what will come of it, but I don’t know how you’d suffer from it. Vim is not outright inviting you into the Society, really. He wants this place to be a secret from them. For me. So that I can come here and rest, and be safe, from even them if I need it,” I said.

“But they do know of it. Lilly does,” Elaine pointed out.

“Lilly would die before revealing this place. She does not like humans, at all, but she loves me. Sees me as family, as so she does Vim. She would suffer terribly and die long before she did anything to harm us. You need not worry about Lilly revealing your home, or you yourself, to them,” I said.

Elaine hummed quietly as I noticed Vim’s hammering had gone quiet. How long has it been since I’d heard him hammer something? Several minutes, now that I thought about it.

I ignored the strange silence in the house for a moment as I gestured at Elaine.

“As I said… Vim wants this place to be a sanctuary. For me. He… likes the idea of me having places to go, to be safe and comfortable. Happy. I only have a few places to call such a thing, so he’s very keen on enabling it if able,” I said further.

“Sanctuary,” Elaine whispered the word as she studied me.

I nodded. It was how I saw it. How Vim saw it too, even if he didn’t wish to outright say it.

“So I have no doubt you’ll be safe. If anything it means he’ll only protect this place even more desperately, as to keep me happy,” I said with a small grin. It felt good to brag like this.

Elaine hummed again as she nodded.

For a few moments I sat awkwardly as Elaine studied me, and I realized I had likely just sounded a little odd. As if desperate, or trying to sell her something.

But I had said the truth. I tried to always do so, really. Especially when about such important things.

“And… you can say no, Elaine. Vim has one single law above all else. One rule he doesn’t bend or break. Something he cherishes and values beyond anything, and that’s free will. If you choose to not get involved with us, with me or him, then he will not only oblige that desire and decision but will even enforce it. He’ll stand against his own people if he had to, just to support your decision. It’s part of his morals,” I said.

“I can’t turn you away. My ancestor would not let me into my heaven if I did.”

“Witch wouldn’t do that,” I whispered softly.

“Maybe not. But I’d like to think she would.”

Softly smiling… I ended up nodding, agreeing with her.

Yes. That was a happy thought, in a way, wasn’t it?

“I’ll not deny you Renn. If anything… we should be the ones begging you to stay. To live amongst us. You’re basically our ancestor too. Our elder, in a way. Like a village deity, almost,” Elaine said.

I tried not to shudder at that. “I’d prefer to not be treated like that…” I said stiffly.

Elaine chuckled and nodded. “I can tell.”

I smiled at her and noticed light voices. From below.

Cat was talking to Vim.

Which meant he was likely done. And it’d soon be time for me to go.

“It sounds like Vim is done, Elaine,” I said softly.

“Oh? Right. You and your ears. I’d be jealous if not for the fact they look terribly itchy,” Elaine said with a laugh.

“They are sometimes!” I agreed, as they fluttered… as if itchy all of a sudden.

I slowly stood, as did Elaine. She stood slowly, weakly and frail. I noted the way that even when she fully stood, she still stopped a little. Bent a little askew, from an old back.

Age really was cruel, wasn’t it?

I likely wouldn’t get the luxury to live to such an age. Odds are I’d die long before I reached such a state. Even with Vim to protect me.

It made me somehow jealous.

“Let’s go see how he did then. Hopefully he’s not got a fine hand, so I can tease him over his rough edges,” Elaine said as she stepped away from the couch and towards the door.

I laughed at her as I reached down to pick up the book… but then hesitated.

Right.

Not mine.

Plus what was I going to do with it? Vim planned for us to be traveling for a long while. Heading north, then back south along the coast. Nowhere to put the book.

Best to just leave it here… where it belonged.

Stepping away from the couches, I followed Elaine to the door… and then remembered a question. One I hadn’t asked yet, but really needed to.

“Um… Elaine,” I got her attention before she could open the door.

Elaine paused, and turned to look at me.

Hesitating again, I groaned and just decided to ask.

“Witch had been able to tell. When she met her destined one. Her husband. She knew instantly. Before she even saw him,” I said.

Elaine frowned at me but nodded slowly. “Well… some of us do see our futures, yes. In our dreams or prophecies. Sometimes we see our own, other times we see the future of those around us. I myself saw the man I’d be with, but failed to see him dying. In fact I’d seen other children too, not just Grenna,” Elaine said gently, with a sad smile.

I shifted, not liking how I had made her think of something that likely hurt.

“Right… Well…” I hesitated as Elaine’s smile softened, and I decided to just get it over with. “Vim. He tells me the future is not set in stone. And, you and others, have… made that seem true. Like just now, you mention seeing more children. Or how you had seen me entering your home upon our first meeting with Vim and not Lilly. You and others have proven that the future isn’t guaranteed. At least, not the ones you saints see,” I said.

Elaine nodded and her smile turned into a frown. “Indeed. Our prophecies can be wrong, yes.”

I nodded quickly. “Right! So… well… Um… Does that mean fate, is uh…”

Jeez how do I ask about it? Celine had given me a few prophecies, and one was deeply unsettling.

But how did I ask about it? Do I just come out and ask if I should worry? That my daughter was going to do something with the moon, and it would cause problems?

“You… wish to know if fate is real?” Elaine asked, or rather tried to voice my own question.

“No! If I did that’d be bad, I think. Rather, more importantly, I guess…” I groaned and shifted my ears, as to make sure Vim wasn’t nearby. I heard him still talking downstairs, thankfully. “I want to know, I guess, how seriously I should take a warning? From a prophecy?” I finally asked.

Elaine didn’t even hesitate. “Very seriously. I’ve had plenty of dreams not come to be, without me ever knowing how or why they hadn’t occurred the way I had seen them to do. But… that doesn’t mean they don’t happen, they simply happen in a different way. I had seen more children, but had also seen him and Grenna. He’s gone, as are the other children, but Grenna is still here. Same with my seeing you. You may not have entered with him, as I had foreseen, but you had still arrived. And so had he, just later. So it had not happened as I had seen it, but a form of it had. And for every one I’ve seen like that, there are thrice as many that have gone exactly as I’d seen them. So any warning, any prophecy, I’d suggest you pay keen heed of it. Your husband may not like them, for whatever reason he has to do so, but is it not obvious?” Elaine asked.

“Obvious…?” I asked as I tilted my head. I was paying attention, focused on Elaine and her words, but also listening to Vim.

Cat was asking him a serious question. About the Society. About me.

But I had to put it aside as Elaine stared into my eyes with her glowing ones… and did so rather gravely.

“He hates them. Yet he still acknowledges them,” she said.

Oh.

“Right…”

Great.

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