"Hey Renka!" I happily greeted my odd little human friend as I glanced behind . Down the hall I'd just hurried through were my friends. Old and new ones. Mapple was standing with Fizz and an adorable little duckling that for so reason seed to absolutely detest , which was hilariously adorable since she kept trying to be an but whenever she did it fell flat. As if she didn't have a an bone in her body.
I'd left them behind since Fressi, the adorable young duck, had been summoned by her mother. I was going to join them, and planned to later, but had seen Renka at a distance… who was staring up at with an odd frown. One that looked cute, thanks to all the freckles on her face. The many little dots reminded of the little doodles I'd made a few days ago, when I had drawn lots of little squiggles and circles absentmindedly while talking through the night with Vim about little unimportant stuff.
"You hadn't needed to abandon your friendly chat, Renn, I could have waited," Renka said gently.
Oh…? "I know… but I've been told we might leave any mont, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk to you again," I said, relieved a little. I had been hoping to see her again on this visit, and so had been on the lookout since I had arrived. I had been worried I'd miss her, since last ti after parting I had felt… a bit awkward, since I had felt as if things had gone unsaid between us. Though I wasn't sure why I felt so… I did know for a fact that she was obviously human. Especially now that I was able to better tell my own kind apart, and thanks to the fact I didn't sense her at all. She didn't make tingly in any way, which ant she was both human… and thus would likely not live very long.
It had troubled that I would not get to see her again before she disappeared or died, and thus I'd end up forever rembering the odd little girl who had spoken to and left feeling anxious. It was the kind of worry that would have kept up at night even a thousand years from now.
"Off to Lun are you?" she asked.
I blinked, and for the tiniest mont wondered how she had known… but she had likely just overheard my conversation with Fressi and the rest just now. we had been talking about it not long ago. "Yep. At least for now… then likely elsewhere," I said. From what I could gather after we went to visit Light we were going to head eastward again. Since Vim had a few requests now, especially in that region and they were starting to pile up. Not only did he have to go handle ghosts at the Crypt, he also now had the ducks to worry about and on the way here he had also ntioned Narli and her family. He wanted to check on them.
And… since Vim was now very adamant that we would be staying together for the foreseeable future, well… that ant I was to join him. And although a tad upset over it, since it ant it could be months before I return north to my new ho, I was also excited for the trip. I looked forward to seeing familiar faces and places again.
"Always busy," Renka said.
I nodded slowly… and wondered if I had actually heard the sadness I thought I had in her voice, or if I was mistaking it. It almost felt as if she had an accent… yet at the sa ti she didn't. It was odd, but it made sense. She herself was odd, what with her slightly pointed ears and all those freckles.
I wonder where she was from? Did all people from her holand look like her? Did different people have different freckle patterns, or…
"What are you thinking about?" Renka then asked.
Blinking, and smiling a little awkwardly as I felt caught bare handed… I gently nodded at her. "Well… you?"
The countless freckles furrowed at . "Excuse ?"
Oh? Oh! "I uh… I ant you in general. Did everyone have so many freckles like you? Back where you're from?" I asked with a point at my own face. Thanks to the mirrors in the Society I've used over the years I knew I only had a few freckles myself. Compared to her I was a single snowflake and she the blizzard.
For a long mont the young girl just… stared at … and then she gave an ever so soft smile. One that sohow made her look a lot older. As if suddenly she had matured a decade or two. "No. In fact where I'm from us won typically hid freckles. With make-up and such," she said.
"Make up…?" They hid them…? Why? They were so adorable! Without them she'd not be half as unique and…
Renka though seed to want to change topics for she gestured lightly at . "Can we walk and talk?" she asked with a point behind .
I slowly nodded with a frown as I glanced behind ; to the hallway I'd just co from… and found it empty. Of not just random people but my friends, too.
Had they abandoned so readily? I knew that Fressi's mother had summoned her so had likely hurried obediently but still… Now I'll have to find them. I wasn't sure where the ducks were staying here in the church, and it was bigger than one thought. It might take a long mont to track them down, even with their very obvious scents…
"Do you live here, Renka?" I asked as I went to join her. She was already walking away, with a bit of a pace too for her size.
"No. I just visit," she said.
So she must live outside of the church. I wonder if she was a noble or sothing? She was younger, but obviously well-mannered and…
Glancing at her clothes, which looked normal here in Telmik, I knew better than to think them so. They looked pristine. Flawless. Not a single stain or tear, as if freshly made this morning… and not made as in recently from laundry, but from the tailors. Her clothes might be sothing a more common individual would wear in Telmik, but a commoner would definitely not be wearing sothing so perfectly new. Even new clothes on commoners typically had small blemishes.
"We're lucky we run into each other so often then," I said as I thought about it.
"Hm… How is Angie doing?" she asked.
Ah! "So you do know each other! She must have been teasing then, she had said she hadn't recognized your na! She's fine. She's up north, though she had been getting a tad upset that we'd not set up the orphanage just yet she was fine," I said. Actually, at this rate the orphanage might be done and open by the ti I got back up there…
"That's good," Renka said simply.
How nice! But really, Angie should have said sothing… I wonder if that ant she was one of the kids that ca here to go to school? I had been told that not all of the students were orphans. So nobles did send their kids here, I think I had once been told…
"It is… do you want to write a letter to her? I'd be happy to deliver it for you if you want," I suggested. Even if Angie had not wanted to admit they were friends I bet she'd feel very happy if she got a letter from her. Angie really liked children.
Renka though chuckled at . "I'm fine… thank you though."
Oh…? Maybe they were their relationship was like the one Rapti and Sharp had? Maybe they had gotten into a fight or sothing?
I decided to let it be then, as to not pry too deeply. Instead I focused on sothing a bit more important, maybe, and also the main reason I had been on the lookout for her. "By the way… last ti we t you had been about to ask sothing. Do you rember what it had been?" I asked, hopeful.
"I do. But I do not think you're ready for it," Renka said.
Hm…? "What do you an?"
Renka then slowed to a stop… and stared up at with an odd look. One that almost made wonder if she was teasing or sothing. Was she playing a prank on or sothing? She had that mischievous look that kids sotis got… likely the sa one I sotis got when teasing Vim. As one who wore it often, I knew it well.
Then, out of the corner of my eye… I noticed sothing weird. Or rather, I felt I did.
Hm…?
I glanced around, and realized where we were.
Wasn't this… the center of the church?
Yes. It was. Down that hall led to the huge auditorium. Where they held the bigger sermons. Vim had taken to a few of those when I had first joined and got here, and then recently I've gone alone or with friends… but… how had we gotten here so quickly? This was nearly on the other side of the Cathedral from where we'd just been… there was no way we'd been walking this long, nor had co this far…
Glancing around so more, I felt a bit uneasy as the hairs on my ears and tail stood up a bit.
"What is it?" Renka asked.
"I… well…" An uneasy feeling filled as I slowly realized what was wrong. It hit like a river fish's tail slap to the face, and once it did I nearly panicked.
There were no people here.
In the middle of the day.
In the dead center of the church, where the public was allowed to roam.
No one but us.
"What's…?" I was about to step towards her. To protect her. Since the situation was odd… and Vim had told to be careful during such monts. Especially now.
She was just a human, so I needed to be careful. Especially since I wasn't entirely sure if she was a mber or not. I didn't feel like she was, yet.
But… why was there an odd cold feeling in the air…? As if… as if no one else had been in this area for a long ti. People left heat. It was unnoticeable usually, but… the complete lack of it wasn't. It was very obvious that this place was cold. Too cold. As if a tomb.
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"I…"
"Should I praise you for noticing, or should I question your bloodline? I'd think a cat would be a tad more perceptive."
My mouth went dry as I stepped back a step… and stared at Renka.
She had crossed her arms behind her back, standing straight up as she did… and had a look on her face that made my eyes narrow at her.
"What are you doing…?" I asked with a whisper as she raised a hand. She pointed a single finger upward, and I followed it up… and found only the ceiling. A decorative, stone décor littered ceiling, but a normal ceiling all the sa.
Looking back down, I found her swinging her finger downward… and then she swiped her hand, as if flinging sothing downward. The way I would to snap a wet towel, or sothing.
And as she did, sothing shimred in the air. I stepped backward again as I watched a wave of blue wash down from above her. As if soone had just dumped a huge bucket of the bluest water I've ever seen over her, a thick and seemingly wet looking layer of blue… stuff ran down from above and onto her. And as it did, it seed to expand. It started to grow outward, making step back again in worry as all of my senses told to panic.
I had no idea what I was seeing. Nothing made sense. The world around was acting weird… and soone I had just trusted was the cause of it all… and…
Then I wasn't alone.
Flinching as sothing huge and heavy rushed past , I let loose a yelp as a burst of wind exploded before . My hat flew off my head from a wall of air that rushed towards , and as it hit and knocked back and nearly to my butt I winced as I recognized the feel of it.
I'd felt it twice before. It was unmistakable.
Once when Tim had died.
Another when the bear had.
"Vim…!" I shouted through my ringing ears as squinted through the whirlwind that was whooshing all around us… and found Vim's fist and forearm were punched through the blue stuff surrounding Renka. With wide eyes, I held my breath as I watched him pull his arm back and out of the blue stuff. A visible hole was left behind, and white cracks were spread out all around the hole… and now with the blue stuff solid and unmoving, no longer like water but now looking like glass, I found it kind of looked like an egg. A large egg, all around… Renka? Who Vim had just punched?
For a tiny mont I expected him to pull out her head. Or maybe she herself by her neck… but instead only his fist erged from it.
"As strong as ever, Vim," Renka's voice said from within the blue egg.
"Renka," Vim said her na with a growl, one that made my spine go stiff.
He knew her…! She knew him!
Then, before anyone could say a thing more… Vim kicked the blue egg. Hard.
Another burst of hard air flew at , but this ti I was ready. I lifted my arms and ducked behind them, shielding from the main blow of the wind… but my ears began to ring again as the burst of air whistled loudly between and around my limbs. After a few monts the wind dissipated, and I peeked around my arms and found the blue egg in pieces. All over the floor… and Renka was nowhere to be found.
I panicked for a mont, since the egg was everywhere! There were bits and blue pieces not just around Vim, where it'd been and where Renka had been, but practically everywhere else too. There were bits near , down the hall, on the walls and I knew if I looked up at the ceiling I'd find them there too.
"Vim…!" I groaned. Hopefully she wasn't in pieces everywhere too!
"I'm fine, Renn."
My heart thumped as I quickly found the source of her voice. I yelped as I stepped to the right, away from Renka who was suddenly standing right next to .
I got a few feet away, barely, before Vim put himself between and her. For a tiny mont I expected him to attack her again, but this ti he remained still.
"Took you long enough, Vim. We had been talking for so ti," Renka then said, as if taunting him.
"Are all of you alive? Do I need to start grinding you all into bits and pieces or sothing?" Vim asked back, as if he hadn't even heard her.
My tail squird wildly beneath my pants as my heart understood what my mind didn't want to. From his words alone.
"I assu your accusation is thanks to your recent encounters. Havoc and Stance, right? If you must know, Havoc having survived your wrath the first ti was pure happenstance. I on the other hand… have never allowed you to kill ," Renka said with a small frown, and as she did so I realized I might not find her freckles cute anymore.
"I distinctly rember crushing your head," Vim said.
"My sister's, Vim. My sister's head. Not mine."
My heart writhed.
Vim's shoulder's visibly relaxed… and I nearly threw up as even from behind him I saw his utter relief. "That so?" he said, and sounded utterly happy as he did.
Gods, Vim…!
Renka stared at him for a long mont… and I knew she had seen it too. Since it had been so clear, as day and night. The implications both behind her statent, and his relief, was telling.
It seed all this ti Vim had utterly downplayed his hatred. For them.
Then, Vim stepped forward.
As he did Renka raised a hand, again with a finger pointed upward. "Ah! I'll disappear the mont you co closer," she warned.
"That just makes want to try harder," Vim responded.
"I've no doubt. But, before you try…"
"Another warning I'll not heed, is it?" Vim asked with a spat, interrupting her.
Renka scoffed. "Hardly. Havoc was stupid to try. But what do you expect from soone stupid enough to try and negotiate in good faith with you?"
It was Vim's turn to scoff, and he took it.
Renka didn't seem to mind… as she then swiped her hand through the air. Again there was a shimr in the air, but this ti not above or around her… but instead right in front of her. Above her now outstretched hand.
Then before I knew it, sothing was in it. Sothing golden. Small. And…
It jingled.
"Do you know what this is Vim?" Renka asked as she lifted it a bit, displaying it between her fingers.
"One of my mother's bells. Yes. You actually think I'd not recognize it?" Vim asked with his voice thick with disgust.
My stomach twisted alongside my tail as I bit back a groan. What a conversation! And I don't think I'd ever heard such utter vehence in his voice before! If pure anger and rage alone could kill, she'd already be dead!
Renka though didn't seem to notice, for she just smiled and nodded. "She had been my friend, Vim…"
My eyes shivered and started to blur.
"Such good friends, I'm sure," he said sarcastically.
The bell jingled again. The note it let out was… pure. Loud yet not. It sounded as if it was right next to my ear, yet at the sa ti distant. It also almost sounded as if it was echoing around , and it likely should since we were in the center of the church near the auditorium… but I heard no such echo at all.
"She's not like her at all. I had expected you to fall for soone similar, more like her, honestly… She's too passive. Too gentle. Too many gray lines in her belief system," Renka said.
My ears fluttered as I beca the topic of the conversation, even though Renka's eyes never left Vim's.
"You're testing my patience," Vim warned.
"Hmph." Renk then tossed the bell upward. My eyes imdiately followed it, locking onto it as if it was a bird and I stepped forward and reached out as it flew my way.
Catching the bell was easy, but realizing sothing else was now happening wasn't.
Renka had swiped her hand through the air again, and Vim had stepped forward. For a tiny mont I had expected the throwing of the bell, and my catch of it, to be the ignition. The start. The beginning of the end… yet instead Vim had gone still. Right as the world began to shimr again… though this ti, instead of around or above her… it did so to her right. A few feet from her.
I tensed up at the sight of it, expecting sothing terrible or unbelievable… but instead sothing a tad more understandable appeared.
A person.
One tied up.
Kneeled on the ground.
"Do you know who this is, Vim?" Renka asked with a gentle wave at the person who was blindfolded, but had obviously heard Renka's words.
The ropes around the person, one that seed to be a woman but it was hard to tell with how they were kneeling and tied up, were glowing a faint blue. Much alike the earlier egg, nearly the sa color and shade. And…
"What… is this…?" Vim asked as he clenched his fist, as if to attack. His hands made terrible sounds as they clenched. Had he just torn skin? And muscles? I didn't dare to look.
"The only one, Vim," Renka then said.
What had felt like hot air around went cold as sothing changed. I glanced around for its source, but couldn't look long enough. My eyes kept going back to the person tied up on the ground. They looked like they were trying to wiggle free… as if to escape the ropes, or the blindfold, but it also looked as if their very body was keeping them from doing so. The glowing ropes didn't look that tightly bound, or even tied at all for that matter… how were they so stuck?
Renka stepped over to the person, who must be tall because even on their knees they were nearly eye to eye with Renka. She reached over and patted the person on the shoulder, as if to display a trophy or sothing. "The only one, other than now with Havoc's death… that knows of Renn's existence. You might not rember her, but," Renka began to speak, but Vim interrupted her.
"Casper."
The tied up woman went still upon hearing her na.
Renka blinked… and then slowly smiled. "Your hate really has no limits, does it? You can barely rember the nas of those alive and around you yet rember our nas even almost two millennia later."
For so reason I hated hearing one of Vim's words from her mouth. Especially since… well…
I gulped as the scary idea of it not even being his word, but instead hers, made want to run away.
Vim glanced at , likely thanks to the noise I just made by gulping, and then he looked back at Renka. "What gas are you playing, Renka?" he asked, a tad calr than before. Had looking at cald him down?
"I'm playing to win. Even if the rest aren't. My gift, Vim… a peace offering. And a promise," she said as she gestured at Casper.
Vim's shoulders drooped again, and the hot air ca back.
"After you kill her, I'll be the only one who knows of Rennalee's existence… and I'll keep sure of it. I'm the one the rest trust to keep an eye on you, as I've done since the beginning. I'm the watcher, Vim. And I use my illusions to keep it that way," Renka said, and then pointed at . For the first ti since Vim had appeared she had finally taken her eyes off him. "I'm her lifeline. I'm all that keeps her safe from them. And as such… I'm now yours too," she said with a smile.
Cold realization washed through as she snapped her fingers, and the air around her shimred again. This ti though instead of sothing appearing around her, or near her… she instead seed to be the one who shimred. She herself, not the world around her. As if I was now looking at her through a window of water.
"We'll speak again, once you have a mont to clear the mind," Renka said… and as she did her voice started to distort. It gained an echo, a real one, and then it… like her, simply faded away.
I blinked and found her gone. Completely. Without even a shimr in the air.
Then another blink brought the rest of the world back.
I startled, since I suddenly found myself surrounded. Dozens of people were all around us, and nearly all of them looked like normal people. Not a single Society mber was around… and as such…!
Hurriedly reaching up to cover my ears, I began to panic and was about to scream… no one seemingly had noticed our sudden return but I knew they would any mont. And once they did… But my panic changed into an odd mix of panic and confusion as I felt sothing. Other than hair and fur. On top of my head. I felt it at the sa ti I heard and saw the golden bell fall a few feet to my left, near Vim. I had dropped it in my panic.
I had a hat on!
My heart thumped wildly as Vim took in a deep breath and sighed it out as he glanced back at … and gave a sad look. "She put your hat back on, Renn. You're fine," he said as he bent down to pick up his mother's bell.
"I'd thank her, but it looks like she left sothing even more dangerous…" I groaned as I glanced past him… and to the woman still tied up a few dozen feet from us. still tied up by the glowing ropes, too.
"You have no idea."
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