Lilly’s home in Lumen was still rather empty, but now it smelled like her at least.

We were sitting together at the only table she had, near the balcony window. It was pouring rain outside, and we’d started to hear the rumble and roars of distant thunder though haven’t seen any flashes of light yet.

“She’s very… pushy about me spending time with Vim, alone,” I said as I reached up to scratch my right ear. For some reason it had been itchy lately, maybe it was the pillows I was using? I didn’t feel fleas or anything, but it was itching beyond normal.

“Undoubtedly for a reason we can’t discern yet, Renn. As much as I’d like to believe their reason is as simple as them wanting you to spend alone time with him just to pop out their saint or whatever, there’s no way I actually can. They’re stupid, but not that simple,” Lilly said.

I sighed and nodded. “Right? The worst part is she’s so willing to just admit it and speak about it, which makes me question everything. If my daughter is such a destined thing… why try to force it anyway? And why make a big deal out of it?” I said, telling Lilly my worries.

“What they probably want is for you and Vim to simply get out of the picture for a bit. Though their reason for it so odd… they want the Society to realize they need him? Yet don’t? Maybe Light’s gone senile in her old age,” Lilly said.

My tail swayed as I smiled at the owl who was older than Light was. “Yet she keeps mentioning that she’d love it if we stayed here. With her,” I pointed out.

“That’s the weird part… she wants you gone, yet doesn’t. I wish I’d been able to talk to Vim about this before he ran off,” Lilly said with a sigh.

“It’s not like I got to talk to him much either. I think he was trying to not talk about it, like usual,” I said.

Lilly nodded. “He hates such things. He got super lucky that he was needed elsewhere,” Lilly said.

I wasn’t going to mention I didn’t see it that way, since the reason he had left was to go help Narli.

“Do you know Berri, Lilly?” I asked.

She nodded. “I also know of Narli. I’ve only met her once though, not long after she was born. They went to live in solitude after the girl was almost killed, not that I blame them,” Lilly said.

“Killed…?” I asked.

Lilly nodded again. “Berri’s half covered in burns right? They were betrayed by those she trusted; they tried to sacrifice Narli to some god. Vim saved them, barely, before it happened,” she said.

My tail squirmed beneath my seat. “Why does it seem so many of such scenarios are because of such betrayal?” I asked.

“Because they are…? We’re as bad as humans, Renn, even if no one is willing to admit it. In fact we’re worse in our own ways.”

I didn’t like hearing that, but knew it was the truth. “Vim likes Berri. He thinks highly of her,” I said.

Lilly frowned at that, but after a moment of thinking nodding. “I don’t blame him…? Berri and I weren’t close, but I respect her too. Though I hear she’s become rather religious, I suppose I can forgive her for that considering her circumstances,” Lilly said.

“She hadn’t been religious before?” I asked. That was news to me.

“Not at all. She joined the Society because her people died from some kind of disease. She joined to find a cure, never did as far as I am aware.”

Oh… “Again, something common. We all seemed to have joined in sadness,” I said.

Lilly shrugged. “Life is sad, Renn. What do you expect?”

It to not be, of course.

“Are you sad Lilly?” I asked as a flash of light lit up the empty house.

Lilly didn’t seem to register the lightning, or the subsequent thunder, as she crossed her arms and thought about my question for a moment. It took her until another flash of lit up the room again before she spoke. “Sometimes, Renn. I’m usually happy to be honest… though I’ll admit lately I’ve been more worried than not, thanks to my children.”

“Worried you’re losing them,” I said gently. We’d spoken of this before.

She nodded and sighed. “Even if the vote is pointless, even if Vim doesn’t step down or does… it won’t change the fact that they’d vote against him! Which would be the same as voting against me! I know that children are supposed to give us grief and whatnot, but how am I supposed to think of ones that outright betray me?” Lilly asked, her voice getting louder as she spoke, and not because of the increasing rain and thunder either.

I nodded slowly, since we’d already talked about this… and I too came to the same conclusion. It was fine if a child wanted to do something different, or go a different path than you… but to actually go against you? It was as Lilly said, even if nothing great came of the vote if they still went ahead and voted against Vim… well… that was akin to a betrayal in a way. Because that meant they believed in completely different things than you did, to the point it was unsettling. If they’d vote against Vim… did that mean they’d vote against Lilly herself? Would they banish her if given the chance, if it came to it?

“And worst part of it is I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do about it! If I tried to yell at them, or stop them, I’d just be forcing my will on them… yet am I supposed to just let them be? Ignore them? It’s like watching them play with fire; shouldn’t I at least try to stop them from hurting themselves…?” Lilly wondered.

Hurt themselves… Did she mean physically and literally, I wonder? Or was she just speaking figuratively? “Have you actually talked to them about this yet?” I asked.

“Just briefly… they were all happy to go meet Root, even Crown in her depression got all happy over it. But I’m not stupid, Renn… this has been a problem from the start. They’re all too like Windle,” she said.

And the only reason Windle wasn’t a problem was because of his love and loyalty to her. Quite a thing, that… it only made me respect the man even more, honestly. To go against his own internal beliefs and values, to be what he isn’t, out of pure love was rather…

“Why are you smiling?” Lilly then asked.

“Ah. I was just thinking how lovely it is that Windle loves you so dearly, is all.”

Lilly blushed and groaned. She leaned forward to cover her face with her hands as she rested against the table.

I giggled at her funny reaction, but before I could tease her some more… someone knocked on the front door.

The room went silent, and somehow got colder, as Lilly and I both turned to look at the door. I could just barely see it from this angle, but I knew Lilly had full view of it.

My ears fluttered as I tried to listen for any signs of who it could be. The pouring rain outside was masking anything obvious, and…

“That’s not Merit, they knocked too high,” Lilly whispered.

I nodded. I had been about to say the same thing. They had knocked on the upper part of the door, Merit would have had to jump to do so and she wouldn’t have done that. Her pride wouldn’t have allowed it.

Which meant it was someone we didn’t know. Only Merit knew we were here.

Slowly standing from my chair, I reached over and grabbed my hat. I put it on as Lilly stood too, and I gestured for her to stay out of the way a bit. I could tell Lilly had planned to open the door, but I wanted to do so. Just in case it was someone from the Society.

Taking a small breath I walked over to the door, and wondered if I should steady myself and brace for danger. I’d been trying not to think of it, and no one else had brought it up, but there was a very good chance that some of the people I’d encountered in the sewers a year ago were still alive… and they would not hesitate to attack me if they knew I was back. But it might just also be a human. Maybe someone from the noble’s office? Was there a problem with our purchase of the building, maybe? Merit had said she’d handled it, but sometimes thing went awry…

Grabbing the latch that secured the door shut, I unhooked it and slowly pulled it open. The heavy rain got louder as I opened the door, and was met by a hooded figure. One I instantly recognized thanks to the glowing eye hidden under a bandage.

“Light…” I whispered as my heart fell.

We were caught. Great.

“Rennalee. Can I come in? It’s cold,” Light asked with a smile.

I heard Lilly groan behind me, but I didn’t know what else to do… so I simply nodded and stepped back. There was no point trying to hide Lilly now, since Light could probably sense Lilly and smell her too.

Light entered the house, taking off her hood as she did. I waited a moment, expecting Less or someone else to step up the stairwell to join her… but no one came. I peered out a bit, enough so that the heavy rain fell upon my head and shoulder, but I saw no one else around. In fact the street looked rather empty, though not too surprising thanks to the storm.

“I’m alone, Renn,” Light said.

Oh…? Really?

“Should I be thankful?” Lilly asked with a tense voice as I shut the door.

Light giggled as she walked deeper into the house. “And hello to you too, Lilly.”

Hurriedly latching the door and locking it, I turned and went back to the front room. I took my hat off as I walked past Light, so I could properly put myself somewhat between the two. I had absolutely no idea what Lilly or Light would do, and the last thing I wanted was for anyone to die or get hurt. Though if I’d be able to actually stop either of them was up to debate… not only was Lilly very fast and deadly, Light was a powerful saint. But I decided to try anyway, if it came to that.

“Whew… I like it when it’s stormy, since it lets me wear hoods and whatnot, but it gets so stuffy,” Light said as she reached up to peel back the layer of bandaging she had wrapped around half of her face, as to hide her glowing eye.

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Lilly glanced at me, and I noted the look of worry on her face. I nodded gently at her, hoping to tell her I understood and was on guard too.

“What’re you doing here?” Lilly asked, rather bluntly.

Light didn’t say anything for a moment as she tugged a tuft of hair out from under one of the bandages, and once she seemed comfortable with the state of her hair and head she smiled and nodded at Lilly. “I came to see you two, of course? I’ll have you know this is my third attempt, I got caught the other two times!” Light said, sounding a little too happy over such a thing.

“Caught…?” I asked.

Light gestured lightly at Lilly. “I know she’s banished, and so isn’t supposed to be here. So I didn’t want to let anyone else know she was here, so I wanted to come alone. Well… sadly when you surround yourself by half-competent people, sometimes keeping secrets like this is a tad difficult,” Light said.

Lilly sighed, rather loudly. “She must have had a prophecy and known all along,” Lilly said as her shoulders slumped a little, as if in defeat.

I frowned as I glanced at Light, who simply smiled warmly at Lilly as she watched the owl go and sit back down at the table.

There were three chairs, since Merit sometimes came here with me, but honestly I wasn’t in the mood to just… sit down and go back to chatting all nonchalantly. Wasn’t this serious…? Lilly being caught here in Lumen meant she could get banished. From the Society as a whole, not just from this city.

I knew deep down Lilly didn’t care about that. But I did. If she got banished because of me…

“It’s okay, Renn. I have no intention to tell anyone about this, and in fact would like it if you kept it a secret that I was here too, if you would,” Light then said.

“Hm…?” I didn’t like the sound of that. My tail twitched a bit, and I flinched.

I’d not hidden it when opening the door. Stupid of me. What if it had been a human? I was growing far too comfortable lately. Maybe it was the stress? Why hadn’t I hid it?

“Secret from whom?” I asked as I swatted my tail that was coiling and swaying wildly. Stupid thing was going to get me in trouble if I wasn’t careful.

“Everyone? I’d not mind people knowing you and I met in a secret little place far from anyone else, Renn, but my doing so with Lilly would result in the spread of terrible rumors!” Light said happily, as if from a joke.

Lilly made a weird noise, a mix of a scoff and laugh, which made me smirk happily for a moment. That had been a cute sound! I’d not heard it from her before!

“So…? What are you here for? If you’re here for dinner you’re out of luck, we already ate,” Lilly said, and I could tell she was trying to not smile beneath her scowl.

My smirking grew at that, I wondered if Light had heard the lie or not. We’d in fact not eaten yet.

“Hm… how long have you lived here Lilly…? It’s so barren! Even for you,” Light ignored her question as she glanced around.

Lilly dropped a half-closed fist on the table, though not so loudly it banged. Light ignored her as she walked over to the table and pulled back a chair… the one I’d been sitting in earlier. She sat down, with a gentle grace you’d expect from someone dubbed a saint, and went and crossed her arms on the table… as if about to negotiate or something.

Great. That meant she was here for a reason, wasn’t she? Vim wasn’t going to like this…

Walking around Light, I went to the last chair. I sat in it, and immediately noticed it was cold. Why’d she have to take mine?

“I’m only here to keep an eye on her while Vim is gone. I’ll leave once he’s back,” Lilly then said with a small nod to me.

Light nodded with a knowing frown. “Makes a lot of sense… not that you’re a child who needs such a thing, Renn, just that Vim cherishes you is all!” Light said.

“What…? Is that how people would normally take such a thing? That I’m like a child who needs guidance or something?” I asked Lilly. Was that why Vim always tried to leave me under someone’s watchful eye when we were separated…!?

She smirked at me a little, which made me feel better. She had been on edge earlier, but was already calming down. “You run off, trying to make friends with everyone and everything you meet. What do you expect?”

Gosh! I wasn’t that bad, was I!? Other than the events here in Lumen… well… No… I’d befriended Elisabell too, and Roslyn… Lamp, too, maybe? And of course Fly… and even before that I’d gotten us involved in some human issues, such as with Melody and her family…

“Look at her, she’s thinking of all the things she’s done,” Light said lightly.

“It’s a long list,” Lilly said.

I sighed at the two. Really! Weren’t they some kind of enemies? Why were they teasing me as if longtime friends!

No… I shouldn’t assume that. Lilly has known Light for hundreds of years. They hadn’t ever gotten along, but that didn’t mean they were outright enemies. Just as Vim didn’t care for her, yet was still kind and cordial… so too might Lilly be.

Remembering that they’ve all known each other for so long that they were able to have such smooth conversations, even after not seeing each other for hundreds of years, made me swell with envy. Gosh I wished I had such a thing too, and knew what that was like. The feeling of inadequacy only became worse as I noticed both of them smiling gently at each other, without saying a word. As if long lost friends or something.

“So? Why are you here alone, then?” I asked. I was feeling a little left out all of a sudden.

Light giggled. “Now she’s upset! Adorable.”

“Careful. Tease her too much and she’ll start to smile and squirm, blushing and stuff,” Lilly warned.

“I won’t!” I argued, though I felt a small smile start to tug at the corner of my mouth. Gosh now I was not just jealous, but feeling included too! Vim would have sighed something mightily had he been here right now!

Light happily smiled at me, and the room lit up from a bright flash. A heavy, ear fluttering, boom of thunder followed… and once it left Light nodded. “A monarch will attack me. While I’m heading up north to the Bell Church in a few days,” Light said.

Lilly and I both sat up a little straighter, and I glanced at her… who glared at the saint. She didn’t say anything though, even after a few seconds… so I spoke up first.

“Then… wait until Vim gets back? Before going north?” I suggested.

Light shook her head. “I can’t. If it doesn’t attack me, it will attack the village. And right now the only ones there to fight it are too old and weary, they’d not survive.”

My tail went still as I realized exactly the purpose of her visit… and that Lilly had realized it from the get-go. My friend looked angry, but understanding. The way her eyebrows met as she frowned, and the way her large pupils glared at Light, told me full well Lilly’s thoughts.

“Exactly, Lilly,” Light said gently.

“Wait! Then… why’d you let Vim leave? If it was that serious?” I asked, trying to avoid the obvious.

“Because then something terrible would have happened. Far worse than a single village being lost to us. Something I cannot to allow to happen, and will never allow for as long as I live,” Light said simply.

Wanting to groan, I sat forward as to rest on the table… I suddenly felt a little sick.

“I’m sorry. I actually thought this to not happen now, but much later… but then I noticed your scent on Merit during their visit yesterday,” Light said with a gesture to me.

So this was my fault!?

“It’s not your fault, Renn. This is how saints are. They invite such disasters,” Lilly said with a flat tone.

Light didn’t say anything; she just sat there with a soft smile… obviously used to such comments. And she should be used to it…! She was basically here to ask Lilly and I to go with her, wasn’t she? To fight this monarch? Why else would she be here? To come alone like this?

“This is very…” I groaned as I didn’t know how to properly express how disgusting this was.

“Expected? Yes. You come back and bring with you chaos. Surprise, surprise,” Lilly said, finishing for me.

Light didn’t even flinch. “I come back to try and stop the chaos, Lilly. Thus why I am here. If you come with us, and help Renn and me, we can subdue the monarch and save many lives.”

“Wait, wait…! This is actually happening?” I asked.

Light frowned at me, but it was Lilly who answered. “As I said, Renn. This is how saints are. They just waltz in and expect you to sacrifice your life for some greater good that only they can see. Very typical,” Lilly said with a light shrug.

“You say that, yet look as if you’ve already willingly committed to it!” I said. She looked bored all of a sudden!

Lilly shrugged. “Because I must? If you’re going to be involved, I have no choice. You’re family.”

My face flushed hot, and I quickly turned to look at Light. She sat up straighter, her glowing eye becoming brighter as I glared at her. “I don’t like this!” I shouted at her.

“I can tell… You are both used to saints, and not one to cower… so what is it that is bothering you so, Renn?” Light asked gently.

“You should have told Vim! He could have hunted the monarch before leaving. He’s able to track them,” I said, holding her gaze. He could have just hunted and killed it on his way to Narli! She should have known that! She knew what Vim was capable of, or at least knew enough!

“As I said. If I had allowed that, something worse would have happened. We would have all died, not just a few.”

My glare faltered… and I glanced at Lilly, who also now looked troubled.

“All…?” I asked with a whisper.

Light slowly nodded as she glanced down to her clasped hands. I now noticed they were trembling slightly, as if she was cold. It was a little chilly, but not anywhere near enough to shake in such a way. The storm was keeping it slightly warmer than usual. “All I can say on the matter is I am walking a very fine line right now. If we step too far off said line, all that we find is death. Utter destruction and death. I can’t allow that, I just can’t.”

I didn’t like the tone of her voice. That had not just been surety… it had been utter fear.

“Just what have you seen, Light…?” Lilly asked with a whisper.

The saint’s eye dimmed a little, and then glowed brighter as she glanced up to meet Lilly’s gaze.

“I can’t say it. Not aloud. And not here and now. Just… please. If you two help me, we can handle this without any great cost. Without your help, well…” Light simply shook her head, going quiet.

Wanting to shout some more, I instead just groaned and rubbed my face. Had Witch been like this…? I didn’t remember her being so frustrating! But of course, back then, I also had simply just believed every word she had said… I had followed her like a lost puppy, even into battle…

“Vim’s not rubbed off on you enough, Renn. You should be angrier than this,” Lilly said.

“Why aren’t you?” I asked as I rubbed my eyes. They felt heavy all of a sudden.

“I am? But what do you want me to do about it? She can have all the schemes she wants, and likely does, but the reality is she’s not lying. She doesn’t need to in this manner. If she says a monarch will attack, and without us many will die, then it is simply a fact of life. If we don’t help now, and people do end up dying… then well…” Lilly went quiet, as if she didn’t want to say the rest.

“Then it’d be the same as us taking their lives ourselves,” I finished for her.

Lilly only nodded.

“A tad dramatic. But yes,” Light agreed.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier? Why not yesterday, when you noticed Lilly’s smell on Merit?” I asked.

“I didn’t want anyone else to hear about it,” she said.

“Why?” Lilly asked.

“Because of whom they are. As you know Renn, though you might not Lilly, I’m not the only saint here right now. Not only is there Mono, but Glasses is here too. If they heard of what I have foreseen, they might have their own prophecies and dreams because of it. I can’t risk branching paths right now,” Light said.

“Glasses…?” I asked. I hadn’t met them yet. Mono I’d met, and although I hadn’t liked how she had tried to mess with Merit I had found her rather cute. She reminded me of my younger sister a little, though I wasn’t outright sure as to why. Their looks and personalities weren’t the same at all.

Light turned to tell me, but Lilly interrupted her. “Can’t risk it because only your path is the only right one, is it?” Lilly said.

The saint simply smiled and nodded. “Mono and Glasses are not as… adept at filtering what they see, yet. And they’re not the greatest at keeping secrets either. If they foresaw something terrible, even if it was something avoidable, they would tell everyone and cause panic. I can’t afford such panic right now. Not yet.”

Not yet…? “You mean to say such panic can and will happen later, when it’s time?” I asked worriedly.

Light’s eye dimmed a little as she gave me a sad look. “We have much to speak of, Renn… in time,” she said softly.

“I don’t want to talk if it’s about such sad things as that,” I groaned. No wonder everyone always felt on edge near her!

“Gah… enough! Just tell me what you need, before I simply pick Renn up and run away!” Lilly said, her frustration growing.

Light sat up straighter and nodded. “I need you, Lilly… and you Renn, with your spear. Or rather, Vim’s. If you both accompany me, and you bring Vim’s spear, we can avoid a lot of needless death.”

I cupped my face and groaned, almost loudly enough to drown out the thunder that boomed angrily all around us.

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