The light rain was both useful and annoying.

It was the kind of rain that was cold. Cold that I myself didn’t notice. But others did. Even Renn, as strong as she was and empowered by a monarch’s heart noticed such a thing. But there were many who were far more bothered by such cold. One of such people was walking beside me.

Walking along a dirty stone road with Liora, heading northward, I wondered how long it’d rain for. It had started last night with a storm and although had lessened in severity it showed no signs of letting up. I was thankful for it, since it allowed Liora to wear the kind of heavy coat that hid her head and face, and thus her eyes, but it also made our traveling speed lower than it already was in the first place.

Liora was not used to such physical activity. Even just walking at a comfortable pace for her was difficult past a certain point. We’d been walking for several days now and she already had large blisters on her feet, and I had to occasionally have us stop so she could rest.

It was not surprising for the young human saint to have such difficulties. Even with her body empowered by divinity, as all saints were, she was still just a young human girl… one who also had basically never left the house her whole life.

Glancing at my small traveling companion, who was focused on the side of the road where little streams of water were flowing in a small divot next to the road, I wondered if I should have us rest soon. It has been several hours since we’d stopped last, and although she wasn’t breathing heavily or showing signs of pain or exhaustion I knew she was likely reaching her limit.

I really should just get a horse. My carrying her constantly would work, of course, but it would draw attention. The kind neither of us could afford. But a horse would solve a lot of those issues. I should have foreseen this and done it before we had left Nevi… why hadn’t I…?

Because I was trying to ignore her existence, that’s why.

Sighing at myself, I glanced up at the dark sky overhead. The rain hit my face, wetting it. As to match her I too was wearing gear for such weather, so I too had a heavy over cloak on. I reached up to remove the hood, to let the rain cool me off a little.

“Mr. Vim?”

Looking back down I nodded to the small saint. Her glowing eyes were faintly visible behind the small veil she wore. I had made her a veil of black cloth, the kind that she could see through but lightly blocked her glow. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than nothing. “Yeah…?”

When’d she start calling me mister, I wonder? She hadn’t done that before we left, had she? Wonder why she had started doing it.

“I got to go to the bathroom,” she said.

Ah. I nodded and glanced to the left, in the direction that led to the ocean in the distance. There was a nice thick patch of trees and bushes. I gestured at it and the two of us walked off the road and over to it.

We were alone, thanks to the rain the road has been rather empty, but I still glanced around to make sure it was fine. Once I confirmed it was clear I nodded to the saint as she walked a few dozen feet into the patch of trees and disappeared from sight.

I turned away, out of courtesy, and sighed again.

The next village was… at our pace, maybe a day away? But it’s a smaller one, if I remembered correctly. Hopefully I can find a horse there.

Maybe I should just carry her and run through the nearby forest. The one that connected to the northern one, the one that Elk and his family lived in. It was a tad out of our way but it’d allow me to hurry…

“Um…”

I turned, finding Liora behind me. She was still tying her belt back together. “Everything okay?” I asked. I had not heard anything alerting.

“Uh! Yes… thank you. I was just wondering why you don’t ever have to… you know?” Liora asked as she stepped out from the trees.

“I do, just not as often,” I said. Renn had asked such things before too.

“I’m jealous,” she said with a sigh.

“Don’t be. You want to take a break?” I asked.

Liora stared up at me for a moment, and then had to reach up to adjust the veil under her hood. She grumbled a bit at it, but eventually got it under control. “No… I’m cold I want to get wherever we’re going as soon as possible as to get out of the rain,” she said.

“You sure…? I can also carry you if you’d like,” I offered.

The young saint paused a moment as she tilted her head at me. “Carry me?”

“On my back, for example,” I offered.

She hummed a bit, considering it, and then nodded. “Maybe later… when my legs start to really hurt,” she decided.

“Do they hurt now?” I asked.

“Yes, but not too badly,” she said with a glance down at herself, as if to look at wounds.

“You sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah… also you’re getting soaked, Mr. Vim,” she pointed up at me, at my head.

Right… I went ahead and put my own hood back on. “Let’s continue then. Just let me know once you’d like me to carry you,” I said as we returned to the road.

As we returned to the road, off in the distance I heard thunder. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the ocean, but I knew such storms would eventually reach us. Hopefully by the time it did the storm would dissipate and lessen. Though it’d mean this rain would likely continue for some time, at least it’d keep it from getting too bad.

Last thing I needed was for this young saint to get sick. Saints were hardier than normal people, but only to a point. And if she got sick it’d make traveling near impossible.

Honestly, I was in a rather precarious situation… I wanted to get to Renn, to make sure she was okay, but like always the world was putting up roadblocks to stop me from doing what I actually wanted.

And also, I still was unsure of what to do with this saint.

“Why don’t you like prophecies, Mr. Vim?” Liora asked, breaking my focus.

Glancing at the young girl, who was now walking rather close to me, I bit back a sharp retort… since I knew she held no ill-will in her statement.

Liora was young, but was not foolish. Her mother had raised her well, and from what I’d seen of her so far what with the few days she’d spent with Kaley and Rapti, she was also well grounded and genuinely a good person. I had a part of me that didn’t want to outright associate with her, but that was just my aversion to saints in general… and…

Well… I kind of pitied her. As I did most saints. She just left her family, her mother, to join me into the wild world because of her condition. To survive. And would always have to live carefully because of who and what she was. Like many of our members, she was someone my mother would tell me to protect and cherish. For she was burdened needlessly by beings without remorse.

Try to be kinder, Vim. Mother and Renn would want me to.

“I don’t like the idea of them. They go against the natural order,” I answered her question with honesty.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like tempting fate. If our futures are written in stone no matter our choices, then we are not truly free. Prophecies test that by their mere existence, it disturbs me,” I continued.

“Why…?”

“Honestly I’m not really sure. I was born and raised to believe in free will. Over time I’ve simply… become very adamant about it. Too deeply, some would say. To the point that I sometimes do the wrong thing over it.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a hypocrite. One who breaks fate on purpose, even,” I said.

“Why?”

My eye twitched. “Because sometimes a man doesn’t understand his own actions.”

Liora was quiet for a moment, and I wondered if I’d finally reached the end of her questioning… but after a bit she reached over and grabbed my hand with hers. At first I thought she was doing so to get my attention, but instead we just kept walking. She had simply grabbed my hand the way any child would their parent or guardian as they walked together.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Why?” she then asked again.

I chuckled at her. “Have you had many prophecies?” I asked.

She nodded. “Mother made me write them in a journal once she figured out what they are. The last one I had, a few weeks before you showed up, I had written my seventy-third dream in it,” she said.

Oh boy. That’s a lot for her age… especially so for her divinity level too. Not to mention the fact she’s been isolated most her life. This poor girl was likely going to have many in her life. Which meant she’d be burdened more than most.

“You had your mother reach out to us, to me, because of them… correct?” I further questioned.

Liora’s hand tightened on mine as she nodded up at me, transfixed on our conversation.

“So you’ve changed your fate because of them. And thus too, the fates of others. Of mine, of Kaley’s and Rapti’s. Of your mother’s… and so on and so forth. Now you could argue it was for the better… that by doing so you’ll be able to survive, or your mother would or something, but in my perspective that is something dangerous. I myself don’t believe that someone should base their life on something they dreamt, no matter how real it is,” I said.

“But… why? If it saves lives, why isn’t that a good thing?” she asked.

“It’s just the way I am. It’s a flaw of mine. And… this might sound rude, but… do you know how you were born?” I asked.

She only nodded.

“What if your mother had received a prophecy of that incident? And thus she stopped it? And didn’t suffer her tragedy…?” I asked.

Liora stopped walking.

I too joined her, pausing in the puddle we’d stopped in. Liora’s face beneath her veil contorted in worry as she pondered my words. “I’d not have been born…” she whispered.

“Hm… I’m not arguing that would have been for the better, Liora… I am simply showing you my perspective. Whether we like it or not, sometimes tragedy can result in a net positive. For instance during wartime, typically, many things become better. Economies grow stronger. Populations boom and grow. Technology and understanding deepen and become more efficient… If the world did not have any struggle at all there would be no growth,” I explained.

I knew my words were likely difficult for one so young, but I also knew better than to think she wouldn’t at least partly understand. And I knew, from experience, that if I didn’t at least give her my perspective she’d likely never truly comprehend my rules. I’ve had to personally hurt saints before because they had not realized how serious my rules were, and as such I’ve learned if I described them a little and how I came to them sometimes it worked out better.

“You’re… saying by interfering based off my dreams I can cause more harm than good, if not careful,” she whispered as she pondered my words.

“Yes. But that is simply my own opinion and perspective. You are free to reach your own, Liora. And in fact I’d even argue you shouldn’t agree with me, to be honest,” I said.

“Why? It… makes sense. A few of my dreams had caused more harm than good, since mother had acted on them and bad things happened afterward,” she said.

I didn’t want to find out what she meant, so I simply gestured lightly at her. “If you’d not have acted on the one that led your joining of the Society and meeting us, we’d not be here now. And that means you’d never get to meet Renn, and I think my wife would be sad over that fact. I’d rather you meet her, and thus make her happy, than the alternative,” I said.

Liora shifted in the puddle, giving me a look as she did. “You don’t agree with my dreams or acting on them… but would do so to make your wife happy…?”

“Of course…?”

“Which is why you call yourself hypocritical,” she said.

“Amongst other things, yes.”

Liora hummed at me and she finally turned so we could return to walking. We stepped out of the puddle, heading for more down the path. The old stone road was full of holes.

“Are all husbands like you, Vim?”

Ah. She had dropped the mister again. “No. But I’d hope not. I’m honestly not very good at it, I’m still trying to figure out how to be one,” I said.

Her small hand gripped mine tighter. “You seem like a good one to me,” she said.

“Thanks.”

She nodded gently. “My mom told me to find a good one too. I never told her but I’ve dreamt of him,” she said.

“Remember my rule, Liora…?” I asked carefully.

She nodded again. “Yeah… wait; I can’t even just say that? I didn’t even tell you who he is or anything!” she said, a little shocked.

I flinched. The way she had said that told me more than she realized. “I’d prefer you not to… as I said, unless it’s a matter of life and death please refrain from speaking of such things. Just now, what you said, is technically fine… but any more than that will bother me,” I said.

“I see… sorry,” she apologized.

“It’s fine. I’m the one who’s annoying when it concerns such things,” I admitted.

“Hm… I can forgive you. Can I talk to your wife about them, though? Is she like you?” Liora asked.

“Renn…? Renn seems to not mind, I think. Just ask her first, if you would,” I said.

“She’s a cat, right?”

“Yes. A very cute one.”

Liora giggled at that. “Aren’t all cats cute?”

No. “So some say.”

“You’re not very cute… are you a cat too?” she asked.

I smirked at that. “No. I’m not a cat. I’m more like you than anything else.”

“Like… me?”

Woops. “By the way, I know we’ve talked about it, but make sure no one realizes who and what you are. I’ll have to kill anyone who does, so…” I reminded her.

She nodded, and I knew she was likely tired of me saying such a thing but I wanted to grind it into her head. If someone saw her, and realized what she was, I would have no choice but to cull them. And although I could, and would, do so without hesitation I really didn’t want to just slaughter people for no good reason.

“Maybe that’s why you kill those knights,” she reminded me.

I nodded with a frown. “It’s possible…” I said. She had mentioned her prophecy concerning a group of knights that attack us on the road. Her concern was that Renn was with us during that prophecy, but I knew that was likely just a possibility that hadn’t come to pass. In another time, Renn traveling with me here and now would have been very normal and expected. I could have seen how such a thing came to be rather easily. Of course it might also happen many years from now too.

“Is it hard to kill someone?” she asked. Although children did sometimes ask such questions, I could hear in her tone something a tad more deeper than simple curiosity.

She must have foreseen herself having to do such a thing in one of her prophecies. Not too surprising, considering what she was.

“Yes. Not only is it difficult physically, many can’t do it even when they try and are capable to do so. Taking a life is… life changing. For me though, no,” I answered.

“Why’s it not hard for you?”

“Physically? Because I’m strong. The rest is because of how many times I’ve done it. I’m very old, I’ve killed a lot of things in my long life,” I said.

Liora was quiet for a moment, and a small gust of wind blew past. Once it left, Liora tugged on my hand a little as she shivered and went to adjusting her coat. “How old are you, Mr. Vim?” she then asked.

“You don’t need to call me mister, Liora. And I’m very old. So old it’s silly,” I said.

She glanced up at me in a way that only a young child could. “How old is that?” she asked.

“More than I know. I stopped counting a long time ago,” I said.

“What was your age when you stopped counting…?”

“Uh…” I picked a random number. “Hundred something,” I said.

She giggled at me. “You don’t know, do you?”

“No…” I admitted.

“Will I live a long time too? Since I’m a spirit too?” Liora asked.

I gently shrugged. “As a saint you will indeed likely live longer than normal, but to what degree I can’t say.”

“What’s the difference between a saint and a spirit?” she asked.

Oh…? Maybe she noticed the fact I never called her a spirit. “Technically none of us are spirits. It’s simply what some humans call us, a term they use inappropriately. You’re a saint because you have a connection to divinity. The power that grants you foresight and other things,” I said.

“Other things…?”

Hm… “Some saints can do more than just have prophetic dreams. Some can read minds, for example,” I said.

“Ah… like how I can stop the rain.”

I slowed a bit, and then came to a full stop.

“What?”

Liora nodded as she pointed up at the sky. “I can make it stop raining,” she said.

“You can…?”

Without answering Liora looked upward… and her eyes hidden by her veil grew a bit brighter. I felt her divinity increase, it thumped in my hand which held hers, and then… sure enough, the rain stopped.

I sighed as I looked up at the sky, which was still dark and full of clouds. To many it might have been something of a mere coincidence, but I knew better. “Why’d you let it rain all this time then?” I asked.

“I like the rain?” she said innocently.

Of course.

“Can you make the rain return…?” I asked. Knowing divine power she hadn’t actually stopped the rain, just shifted it. Odds are it was raining harder now in the areas around us, though to what distance her power worked was something I couldn’t tell. Knowing past saints and their abilities, her ability could have a range between anything from a few hundred feet to many miles.

“No. And it won’t stop forever. It’ll come back in an hour or so,” she said.

“I see… how’d you figure out you could do that?” I asked as we returned to walking. Now without the rain falling upon us.

“I sit a lot.”

“You… sit a lot…?” I asked. What kind of answer was that? That was even more cryptic than the ones I gave half the time, which was saying something.

“By the window. Watching the sea. And the rain,” she said, speaking gently as she did.

Nodding slowly, I understood what she meant. She had figured it out thanks to long hours of boredom. A sad hint to her life until now.

“Neat ability. Though a tad dramatic. Can you do anything else?” I asked.

“Not sure…? What else should I be able to do?”

“I can help you test for other abilities if you’d like… but I suggest we do so later, when we can do it in a place where we’ll be safe to do so. Last thing we need is for you to draw attention out here,” I said. We were still alone on the road but that could change at any moment.

“Right…!” Liora nodded excitedly.

“Renn will like it, though. She really likes the rain and stuff,” I said.

“Again with your devotion!” she said happily.

Was it that weird…? And why was someone so young so amused by it? “Yes, yes,” I said.

She giggled at me and then slowed a bit. I slowed my pace as well, wondering what was wrong… then I realized what it is.

“Vim…” Liora said my name softly while tugging gently on my hand.

“Hm?”

“My legs hurt now,” she said.

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