I woke up thinking about Fressi.

With eyes still closed, and my face buried in a pillow… I couldn’t help but smirk as I remembered the duck from last night. She had joined Vim and I for not just lunch, but had stuck around for most of the day afterward the meal. She had at first been, as she had before, oddly rude in a cute way… but it hadn’t take long for her to completely change and start being normal and nice to me. To the point that I think even she was shocked by it, considering when she had left she had almost went to hug me in parting and had to stop herself from doing so.

Her annoyance with me, or at least her attempt at being annoyed, was sourced from her attraction to Vim. I couldn’t fault the girl for liking the man I too loved, obviously, but even more so I was amused and enjoying her odd attempts at catching his eye. For one so young she sure did know how to do it, or at least she seemed to know. On more than a few occasions I had found myself startled at how brazen she was…

How come someone so young could just outright act that way but I couldn’t? Was it just a personality thing, or was I lacking in some way…?

Not that I was of course worried about a young duckling stealing Vim from me, far from it, but it made me a little self conscious over the fact that… well… I mean…

Squeezing the pillow, I groaned as I thought of Vim. The jerk who was my husband, who was happily using the world and all its recent chaos as excuses for not doing what he should be doing.

Had he not promised? To try? To at least talk to me about it…?

I know with Renka showing up, and all the other issues, that having children was the last thing on Vim’s mind… but…

But I didn’t want to let the world dictate our lives. Yes, there was chaos. The Society was a mess, with so many new people showing up. The world was in danger, with the gods and monarchs going wild… but… wasn’t there always something going on? Was there not always chaos? Was there not always an enemy to defeat, or danger at the door? Even before the gods and monarchs had started causing issues, or before Light and her people returned from the other continent, we had always been busy. Running around, feeling busy and as if we didn’t have enough time as it was… so…

So what did I say? What did I do? I wanted to blame Vim for ignoring it all, but it was also my fault. After all, he had tried. He had attempted to confront the issue, on his own accord, and I had been the one to put a stop to it. Like an idiot. A fool. A stupid and ignorant cat that had not realized how important the moment had been and had allowed it to pass through my fingers without any resignation. Merit, Lilly and the few others I’d told about my mistake had all rightfully bit my head off, but that was not even the worst of it.

I could have had another opportunity. On our most recent visit to his little crystal cavern. And I had not even tried. Or well… I kind of had. But…

He hadn’t been there. He had been, physically, but… not mentally. Vim had been lost in his mind. After killing Tor, he had subconsciously known something was wrong. Terribly wrong. And the world had proved him right, with Renka showing up as she had.

I hadn’t tried anything because he had not been ready. His heart had not been in the moment, not as it had been the first time at least…

“And you’re still not here, idiot,” I mumbled a groan into my pillow as I took in a deep breath of it.

It had no smell. At all. Not even mine or his, which was the only reason I had been willing to bury my face into it. But… it was also slightly cold. As was the rest of the bed.

Vim wasn’t here anymore. Even though he had laid down with me last night, and we had spent a few hours just… talking, as we did on such nights, he was now gone. Off doing whatever he did or needed to do.

“I hope you mean Vim and not me.”

My eyes shot open, and my whole body went stiff as my ears fluttered and my heart thumped harshly in my chest. I slowly pushed my head off the pillow, and stared wide eyed at the owner to the voice that had just nearly given me a heart attack.

“Morning,” Renka greeted me as she lifted a cup. One she went to sipping from.

Gulping, I quickly looked around my bare and simple room… and wasn’t sure if I should be glad that there was nothing else amiss. No one else was here, not even Vim… but…

Slowly sitting up on the bed, I warily studied the god sitting a few feet from me. She wasn’t sitting on one of the two chairs that had been in this room originally, but instead a different one. One smaller, and seemingly made of some kind of silver looking metal.

She even had a small table next to her seat. One that had a small tea set upon it, and… sure enough had an extra cup, one she lifted and offered to me. “Tea?” she asked.

Oh boy…

“I uh… should I?” I asked her honestly.

Renka blinked at me, and then gave me freckle-adorned smile. “I’d like you to, if my preference means anything.”

That didn’t give me much of an answer… still, I took it as one. I carefully and slowly got out of bed, and made sure I looked halfway presentable as I did. I only had a light shirt and shorts on, the kind that I’d not willingly wear outside unless needing to. But… for here and now, in this moment, they were likely fine.

Plus I mean… she was a god right? Surely a god didn’t mind such a thing, did they?

Walking around the bed… I reached out to grab one of the chairs. As to bring it with me to the side of the room where Renka sat, and her little table, but she stopped me. Renka shook her head with a frown and then with a small wave of a hand in the air she snapped her fingers and… the world shimmered near her.

My tail went stiff as I watched the world near the table shimmer, and then as if a hundred little mirrors suddenly appeared out of nowhere there was a bunch of odd lights and sparkling before me… and then something appeared, and the odd sparkling air disappeared as if it had never existed… leaving a chair in its place.

One just like what Renka sat upon… though this one was a little bigger. Likely for my height, not hers. It almost looked as if it was… perfect for me. In shape and form. Which only made it that much weirder.

“I bet you’ve never tasted this before, why not tell me what you think of it?” Renka then offered as she held her the cup of tea again, as if imploring me to sit down.

Wanting to groan, I simply accepted the craziness of the moment and stepped forward. I sat down, and accepted the cup she offered while I wondered if I was still dreaming or not.

“I uh… thanks,” I said, unsure of what else to say as I glanced both at the cup and its contents. I wasn’t sure what to focus on more. The strange cup of tea that felt as light as a feather, or the chair I was sitting on that was made of hard metal yet felt soft as if it had a cushion on it even though it didn’t.

I chose the cup. For now at least. It was a simple cup, all things considered… but it felt light. Too light. Impossibly light. And cold, though hard and full of steaming tea. The thing was far too thin to feel so cold, especially if the tea was as warm as it looked… and it only took half a moment for me to recognize the feel of the metal it was made of.

It felt just like Vim’s spear did.

“It’s a taste you’ll not find anywhere else in the world,” Renka said, sounding a bit happy as she did.

Great…

With a little a little care I went ahead and took a small drink… half expecting it to either be really hot, or something else entirely. Something unnatural or otherworldly… and instead…

“Delicious,” I whispered in awe as I leaned back a bit as to study the contents of the cup better. The tea was warm, but not hot even though it was steaming. It smelled wonderful, like blossomed trees, and somehow tasted like something I’d drank in excess my whole life yet at the same time like nothing I’d ever tasted before. It almost tasted like something made with sugar, but also had a hint of something with mint. I wasn’t really able to place the taste, but… I liked it. Enough that I had almost immediately taken another drink, but had thankfully been able to resist. I wanted to savior the taste, while I could at least.

“Hm. Either people love it, or they hate it. There’s never any in-between,” Renka said with a nod, and then she went to pick back up her own cup… or at least pretended to do so. Instead of reaching over to grab it, she simply lifted her hand and made the air shimmer around it. My tail coiled worriedly as I blinked and her cup returned to her hand, instantly, and…

Glancing at the table, I wanted to groan upon finding the cup that had been sitting at it gone. She hadn’t just made another cup out of thin air, but had made the one already created and here move to her hand. With a small gesture.

No wonder Vim always said they broke the natural order…

“It’s the same tea,” Renka said simply.

“I… I see,” I said, unsure of what else to say to that.

“Just figured you should know. I could have made a new one, a new cup with new tea inside it, but I’m not that wasteful.”

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“Then… why do it that way at all? Why not just pick it up normally?” I asked.

“Hm… the best way to explain it is that, at least technically, the cup had never left my hand. It being placed on the table had not been its true position, if that makes sense,” she said.

It didn’t. “You’re… saying making it appear in your hand like that was nothing more than making it go back to where it was meant to?” I asked.

“If that’s how you want to see it that works too. But rather I more so just had it in my possession… and then put it aside for a moment, only to have it again once I wanted it.”

Sadly I didn’t really understand what she was trying to say, and I figured even if Vim was here to better explain it to me it wouldn’t matter… since he’d likely not do such a thing for me. He’d instead probably attack her. So for now I decided to just let it be.

Choosing to just… sip some more tea, I went ahead and did so.

It was tasty. Though now I felt it tasted more like mint than anything else. Had I misunderstood what I had tasted earlier?

For a few moments… we sat in silence. Sipping our tea. But then I gathered up the nerve, or rather couldn’t handle the silence anymore, and decided to spark up a conversation.

“You’re uh… back a little early, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Am I?” Renka asked with a frown.

It felt like you were… “Did it uh… go well?” I asked.

Renka softly smiled and nodded. “Yes. The one who had watched over Telmik in my absence had not noticed anything. It helped that Vim ran off doing stuff all day the other day, made him seem normal,” she said.

Oh…? She must mean him going to meet those mask-makers. The ones who had told him of Meriah’s death. I’d not gotten the chance to meet them yet, though at this rate I felt as if I never would.

“And uh… what of your own thing? Did your issue get handled too?” I asked.

For a small moment the god only frowned at me… and then she nodded. “Yes. It had been a meeting, basically. You see, we’ve had several deaths recently… and for us it is not normal. At all. Especially so for them to be so close to one another. In fact, the only thing that can kill so many of us so quickly is… well, Vim, I suppose,” Renka said.

“Stance, Havoc and Casper,” I said.

She nodded. “They don’t know in what order, or where or how, but they know. I helped plant and water that idea too. Better to hide a tree in a forest, as they say.”

“How so…?” I asked as I glanced down at my cup. It was half empty, and although I wanted another drink already I didn’t want to waste it.

“Them knowing Vim’s the cause of their deaths is… dangerous, in a way. Because it will make them alert of him, and cause several to go out of their way to keep an eye on him for a while. It’s one of the reasons I decided to show myself, truly show myself, to you two this early. I had been planning on waiting… but circumstances changed. I had not expected Stance or Havoc to just go and throw their lives away so foolishly, but it turned out fine in the end,” Renka said.

I gulped, and not because I had drank tea. “Should… should we get Vim?” I asked.

“What for? He’d just ruin the taste of the tea.”

Maybe…

She chuckled at me, in a rather girly way too. Nearly full on giggles. “Don’t worry. I plan to… when I can, involve him. But he’s not ready yet. Or rather it’s better to say you and I aren’t ready yet?” she said with a small frown.

Was this a chance to ask the question…? Why not, let’s give it a shot… “What is it you want anyway, Renka?” I asked.

Renka didn’t even blink as she went to take another drink, but not before simply saying. “I’ll let you know in time.”

Wanting to groan, I decided to gulp down the rest of my tea instead.

Once I did, I felt a little better… and sighed in relief… and then glanced at the table. Was that teapot full, I wonder? Would she mind if I reached out to grab it? Should I ask first, or…?

Then, without saying anything, Renka lifted a hand and snapped her fingers. And I had to go still as the cup in my hand shimmered.

For a small moment I expected something scary to happen, but then in the next heartbeat… I found my cup was full once more. With simmering tea.

“Gosh…” I groaned as I carefully held the cup… as if now it was something dangerous.

Was that tea safe to drink…? Where’d it come from? From inside the teapot? Even if one had such abilities, how did that make sense…? How did she know, or be able, to fill the cup up perfectly? And not spill a drop? The tea inside the cup, the liquid, hadn’t even rippled!

“You look as disgusted as Vim would. Must you act so like him?” Renka asked, and did so with a tone that told me she wasn’t actually offended. If anything… based off that smirk on her face, she was enjoying my reaction.

“Well… I mean… it shocked me,” I said.

“Hm. I’d say you should be used to it, what with all of Vim’s abilities… but he’s very good at hiding them all, isn’t he?”

Abilities… “He… I’ve never seen Vim do anything like this,” I said carefully as I shifted the cup. I honestly no longer wanted to take a drink, which was surprising because I really had wanted more.

“I’d hope not. He cannot do stuff like that… I just meant by my statement that you should be used to witnessing oddities, based off his other skills.”

Other skills. “Like… when he breaks things on accident. Without being near them or touching them,” I said, nodding.

She nodded back with a frown. “That’s him sucking in the mana in the world around him. Not everything has it, of course, but throughout the many years with so many of us being as liberal with our powers mana has inevitably infected much of the world. Even in odd ways,” Renka said, and then went to take another drink.

Mana… he’s mentioned that before. “Do… do you mean to say when he breaks something, it’s not because he’s so strong?”

“Ah, no. He does that too. Too strong for his own good, it’s true. But his absorption of mana is one of the major factors. Remember when he broke that ship not too long ago? In Nevi? That had not been his excess strength. The building nearby had been, but not the ship.”

“You…!” I nearly stood up, shocked to hear her speak so blatantly of something she shouldn’t know of… and in a way that almost made me think…

She nodded before I could continue. “I was there. Or well, I was watching. From a safe distance. As I mentioned before, I’ve been watching you for some time Renn. Or well, I guess it’d be better to say I’ve been monitoring Vim for a long time. A very long time…” Renka said with a sigh, one that told me she wasn’t too happy over that fact.

I gulped at that. “So… you know everything then,” I said simply.

“I assume you mean stuff like your relationship, how far you’ve gone, what you know and don’t know, what Vim’s told you to a certain point and what he hasn’t, and even the way you nearly purr when you two flirt in your baths? Yes.”

I nearly dropped my cup as I reached up to cover my face in shame.

Renka chuckled at me. “Don’t feel bad. I’m the one in the wrong, in this case. But it’s my job… my duty. To monitor Vim. Our lives depend on it. So although you can be upset with me over it, don’t expect me to apologize. My keeping watch over Vim all this time has kept us alive, and I’ll not apologize for that.”

Gosh…! “I’m… overwhelmed,” I groaned.

She chuckled some more, and as she did her cup clinked for some reason. I looked up past my fingers that had been covering my face and found out why. Her cup was no longer in her hands, but instead on the table… and I had a good assumption that she had not put it there herself.

“How… how long?” I asked.

“Hm?” she tilted her head at me.

“How long have you been watching me…? Watching Vim?”

“Since the beginning, Renn. I saw you the moment you stepped into the Sleepy Artist. As for Vim? Well… I myself took up the mantle of observer not too long after he ran off to those islands. The ones his turtle friend made for him. I didn’t really get active in my watching of him until he settled down as protector, however,” she explained.

Gods…! She really did know everything!

Vim was not going to like this at all…! In fact, I didn’t like it either! “I uh… don’t know what to say,” I said, half tempted to either start crying or start growling.

I decided on gulping down the tea once more. It worked, keeping me from doing anything stupid, but made me feel silly. Hadn’t I just felt unsafe drinking this?

“How do you think I feel…? Watching you two all this time, and admitting to it, makes me feel like some weird pervert. But it’s the truth… I’ve been watching. And I want you to trust me, so I am trying my best to be honest and forthcoming,” Renka said.

I shifted a little in my chair and nodded… “You… do seem to be. Forthcoming, I mean.”

“As I said, I’m trying to be. Better than Vim at it, at least, right?”

I smirked at that and nodded. “So far…?”

“Good. For now, why not ask a quick question? Vim’s coming. He’s heading this way, but it seems he got sidetracked by someone. Maybe that little duckling…? I’ll disappear before he gets here, so ask while you can,” Renka said.

Oh…! I quickly nodded as I reached over to put the cup down… so I’d not let it distract me.

“Um… let’s see,” I panicked a moment as I realized my mind had gone blank. I actually had loads of questions, but…

“Go ahead,” Renka offered comfortably, with a small smile as she did. I noted again her many freckles, and…

“Are they real?” I asked with a point to my face.

“Hm…?” she frowned at me, and I could tell she didn’t understand my question.

“Your freckles…? Vim once told me that you… uh you gods,” I hesitated a moment, since I wasn’t sure if that was really what they wanted themselves called or not yet, but decided it was all I knew to use for them. “That you all can change your selves. Your appearances. Are… your freckles real?” I finished asking.

Renka blinked at me… and then her shoulders softly slumped as she gave me a smile. One that was far gentler than any I’d seen on her face so far. “Yes, Renn. I am one who uses illusions… mighty ones, too… but never once in my whole life have I ever modified my own appearance. At least, not in that way. I’ve made myself look like others as to hide from Vim, but I’ve never made any changes to my body as others have. Unlike all of them, I’m proud of who and what I am; I don’t need to be changed.”

I see…! “I’m glad to hear that… they’re very neat. I’ve never seen someone with so many like you.”

She smirked at that. “Thanks. You got a few cute ones yourself.”

“I… I do?”

She nodded and then pointed downward, and… at her rear? “On your butt, I mean.”

Oh.

Of course.

I sighed at her, as she smiled happily and nodded… being completely serious as she did… and I realized where Vim most likely got it from. Maybe not from her, but his parents… since after all, maybe all the gods were like this.

“So? One more before he gets here,” Renka then said, startling me out of my thoughts.

Ah! Right!

“Um…” I spent a moment to find my question… and decided on something simple. For now, at least. “Vim. He hates you,” I said.

She frowned but nodded.

“Yet… you need his help. Right…?”

“Yes. And I hope to get it thru you,” she said simply.

Right… I nodded at that, and gulped. “So… if it works then. If we, if I, can convince him to do it… Is there really a chance…? That this can all work out? Peacefully?” I asked, full of hope as I did.

“No, Rennalee. I’m afraid not… but we’re going to try anyway.”

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