"Sorry for the wait, Renn… this is Harly."
I stood from the bench as a woman a little taller than , and surprisingly not wearing the robes of the church, stepped forward and past Mapple as to extend her hand in greeting.
"Rennalee… I'm glad to finally get a chance to et you. It's an honor," Harly said as I took her hand and… hesitated for half a second before shaking it.
What had I just heard just now…? Sothing in her voice had been… familiar…? Or maybe strange? My ears under my hat had just twitched because of it.
No matter. I pushed the odd feeling aside as I nodded in greeting and finished shaking her hand. "No honor needed! I uh… I'm going to be honest, I expected soone in robes!" I said, deciding to not let whatever I'd heard in her voice bother . It might have just been sothing akin to what Folz did, and sothing in her voice had simply set off my senses sohow in a weird way.
"Sotis I wear them, but it's a little warm today isn't it?" Harly said, and I was glad to hear and notice that the weird feeling didn't happen again.
Maybe it had just been happenstance…
"It is. I tried using it as an excuse to invite Mapple to take a bath with , didn't work out," I said, teasing Mapple a little who had slowly started backing away as to escape.
She startled at being brought into the conversation, and gave an annoyed look because of it as Harly glanced at her. "I've heard of your invitations to the baths, I had thought them silly rumors… though I'm not surprised Mapple is giving you the runaround on them. I dare say it might be best to simply give up, she's not one for such skinship," Harly said.
Mapple warily glanced at Harly in a way that told she was annoyed that Harly spoke the truth, so I smirked. "I'll keep trying. Maybe one day," I said.
Harly chuckled at that, and I noted the sounds as she did. Her laughs were a little deep… I wonder what she was?
"Thank you Mapple… I appreciate you helping ," I said before Harly could say more, as to give Mapple a way out finally. I had teased her enough.
Mapple again stood up a bit straighter, as if startled, and then gave a quick nod. "Um… yes. Sure… I uh…" Mapple stepped back, and as if she was an awkward child wanting to slip away to go play with her friends she pointed behind her with a thumb. "I'll… get going now."
"Mhm. See you later Mapple," I bid her farewell, but hadn't even been able to say the full thing before she turned and hurried away.
Harly and I watched Mapple retreat down the hallway, leaving us alone… and then Harly softly sighed and shook her head as Mapple rounded the corner. "My aunt raised her, but she's nothing like her at all," Harly said.
"So you grew up together?" I asked, finding that very interesting. Mapple had seed to be… sowhat comfortable around her, having co to get to let know that Harly wanted to et … but yet had retreated the mont she had brought her to . Were they like sisters then?
"If you're asking if we're like sisters, then no. Sadly, because of how Mapple is, I can't claim such a thing. I of course would like to say she's my sister, not just in cloth but blood, but she'd sneer and snip at if I did, so I only do it when the mood is right," Harly said, sounding regretful as she did.
Ah… I nodded softly at that. "Family," I said.
"So would call it that, yes."
Hm… so she wasn't antagonistic with Mapple, but at the sa ti didn't outright claim her as family? Even though they had both been raised by mbers of the original Singing Sisters…?
"How uh… how many are there? Of you? Descendants I an, of the Singing Sisters?" I asked, deciding it was both a good ti to ask and the right person to ask it to.
"Not as many as I'd like. There are two surviving… well, three surviving sisters. If we include the Chronicler in the group, though so don't see her as one since she had been young and not an official mber until later. As for us direct descendants… even if we included those like Mapple who were adopted, we still only number twenty. And a few of those are unaccounted for, we just keep including them in the living number out of hope," Harly said. As she spoke she sounded a little sad, but had a soft smile on her face as she did.
And did that an she, and many like her, didn't see the Chronicler as a genuine sister? Of at least the Singing Sisters? That was… interesting. Vim too sotis called her a fake, or sothing like it, but I had always typically interpreted his comnts as his way of insulting the faith itself not the individual. Maybe I had misread those monts…
"Huh… I wonder if I've ever t any others and hadn't realized it?" I wondered, choosing to focus on that instead of how they viewed the Chronicler's standing. Twenty was a lot, at least when considering it was a number amongst the Society.
"Other than Mapple I'm not sure you would have."
Probably not if most or all like Harly had been living on the other continent this whole ti.
Still… I glanced Harly up and down a mont as she glanced at the nearby bench I'd been sitting at. I was not surprised that she looked younger than she was; since many of us did, but I was a little shocked to find that she neither had glowing eyes nor made feel tingly. Mapple had called her a saint, but… it seems she wasn't. Maybe Mapple had done so on purpose, as if to be rude. Maybe I shouldn't bring it up.
"To be honest I had expected you to be saint, Renn," Harly then said as she stepped over to the bench. I stood up a little straighter as she sat down, with a small but tired huff as she did.
Had she read my mind or sothing…? "? Why?" I asked as I went to join her. I sat next to her, but not so close that we would touch.
"For the obvious? But I suppose it makes sense. I don't think even love could make Vim put aside his hate for saints," Harly said with a happy tone.
I wanted to grumble at that, since Nory was to be a saint, but chose to not say anything. "I've co to learn Vim doesn't truly hate saints, he just hates… their abilities," I said instead.
"Hm… mother used to say he hated only divinity, maybe that's what she ant," Harly said with a nod.
Used to. So her mother was dead. I wonder if there was a family tree written down sowhere so I could know who was who? I'll ask Vim for one later. "I'd be willing to vouch for that, yes," I said. That sumd up Vim's hate towards faith and saints entirely. It wasn't the ideologies, or the people, but the things they focused on. The source of it all.
The gods.
Harly nodded. "Well if anyone would know it'd be you. By the way, this might be rude to ask since we just t and all… but do you mind if I sothing a little personal?" she asked.
"Personal…?" I felt my tail coil around my left thigh in apprehension as she nodded.
"Where uh… where've you been? I an… you're my age right? Or near it? Before joining the Society! Where were you?" she asked, smiling a little sheepishly as she did.
Oh.
My stomach tightened and started to hurt a little as I tried to smile through the utter panic that suddenly filled . "Well… I an… I'd just been up north? I uh… spent a lot of ti with people who were important to , and stuff…" I spoke calmly, and was thankful the panic quickly diminished. I felt a little cold all of a sudden as I realized this was one of the first tis anyone has actually asked this so directly.
"I see…" Harly gave a gentle frown as she nodded, and I knew she had likely noticed my initial panic. Hopefully she didn't think anything too weird because of it…
Though even if she did, what did it matter?
I hated the fact I was supposed to have been here a lot earlier. It made sick to my stomach. But… I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't change the past. And I didn't really know if she was outright blaming or… just curious…
"I'm… uh, I've been told it is kind of shocking it took as long as it did for to encounter the Society. Especially since there were so many mbers and stuff up north near ," I said. Even from the beginning, back when I had first been staying at the Sleepy Artist they had found it odd that it had taken as long as it had.
Harly quickly nodded. "Yeah…! Especially considering how many people went looking for you!"
I flinched. "Right…"
"Ah…" Harly obviously saw how that fact bothered and coughed. "I uh… sorry," Harly looked away and apologized, and sounded sincere as she did.
"It's okay…" Maybe.
So they really had sent people to search for . Once they realized I'd not shown up on ti, per their prophecies…
So of the journals had hinted at it, but I had been kind of hoping I had been misreading or just making assumptions. I had thought maybe just Celine and a few others had occasionally gone searching for … but what if many dozens had done so? Over decades?
Just how had they not found , I wonder? And how had I never encountered them?
Harly sighed as she leaned back and chuckled. "Sorry… I've been waiting to et you for my whole life, I'm just a little… anxious? Maybe?" Harly crossed her arms and frowned as she closed her eyes, as if to deeply ponder her own feelings.
"I uh… I'm flattered, I think?" I said. That's right, huh? She was a daughter of the saints. The original ones. She had likely even known Celine herself… maybe she was one of those who had known all this ti of the prophecies concerning and my arrival? If so…
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Hm… I'm not doing a very good job am I? Mother would probably put to sleep and have carted off right now if she was here!" Harly said with a laugh.
"Put you to sleep?"
Harly nodded and gestured lightly at the world around us. "Mother's ability had been to either put people to sleep or force them to wake. Rather useless, all things considered, but she used it often on us children when we were being naughty," she said.
Huh…! "Seems… an odd ability," I said.
She nodded again. "Right…? Most make sense, I an… telling lies from truth, seeing the future, healing and stuff… then you had my mother. Or my aunt See. Hers was weird too," she said.
"See…? With a na like that I'd just assu she could see the future really good or sothing," I said. I'd never even heard of her before.
Harly smirked and nodded. "I know, right? But no. She was blind. Born with no eyes, but was able to see around her as if she wasn't. She got her na that way, but her ability kept plants from dying in her vicinity."
"Plants…?" That sounded… nice actually?
"Yeah. It sounds good, at first, but plants just keep growing and growing so if you weren't careful the whole area would get overrun around her. The gardens used to get constantly trimd and maintained back then, because stuff grew too much. It honestly caused more problems than not, I think."
Oh… "Still… at least it kind of makes sense, in a way. Keeping life… alive? Not sure the whole sleep thing makes sense, though," I said.
Wonder if that had any relation to prophecies…? Since they had them when asleep. If so did that an she could have helped Narli?
"I've heard of a few other odd ones too, like soone able to fly. Without wings. But in my opinion that doesn't make much sense either, does it?"
"That I'd like. I was lucky enough to experience flying, so I'd be more than happy with that one," I said, thinking of the ti Sap had carried to the Owl's Nest. Miss Beak had also carried through the skies, but Vim had wrapped up so well I hadn't really been able to enjoy it. Plus for whatever reason that event had been very chilling.
"Fly…? Ah, Lilly, right? I've not seen her in forever, how is she doing?" Harly then asked.
Oh? "Healthy. She recently had another daughter, so she's busy with that."
"Another daughter…? Huh…" Harly frowned in thought, in an odd way so I couldn't help my curiosity.
"That's odd to you?" I asked.
Her frown deepened. "No… not at all. It just… makes wonder, is all."
"Wonder...?" Wonder what?
"Why so of us get lucky and others don't, I guess," Harly said, her frown turning into a sad smile.
My tail twitched again, since I had heard that sa… odd sound from before. In her voice. It was like a tiny little crack, a small almost unnoticeable dip in tone that disappeared as fast as it ca. I wasn't sure if it was just… sothing natural to her voice, that my ears picked up and alerted to for so reason, or if sothing else was actually happening but it was definitely happening while she spoke.
Maybe I was just hearing a small scratchiness to her voice or sothing? I wonder what it could be? The worst part was even if I asked about it, to her or others, I doubted I'd be able to properly explain what I was even hearing… nor why I found it so alarming.
"Are you… talking of yourself, or…?" I asked carefully.
She nodded. "Yes. And a few others. Not to disparage Lilly!" Harly then quickly shook her hand at , as if worried that I'd take her words wrongly. I hadn't, not in that way, but now I kind of did since she was so quick to assu I had. "I'm glad for her, really…! I never had an issue with Lilly, unlike so of my other siblings. In fact she even saved my life once, so I actually owe her quite a bit…! I just… wonder sotis, I guess... why so just seem to figure things out while others don't."
Figure things out…? "Well… she kind of lucked into it, I think, in a way," I said. Did she not know how much Windle had fought, and sequentially given up, for Lilly's affection? Maybe not? Since she had not even seemingly known that Lilly had children at all…?
Harly sighed at that. "So in other words I'm just really unlucky you an."
Oh. Great. She now looked, and sounded, really depressed. Not too much unlike how Crown had been when I had first arrived at the Owl's Nest.
Maybe this topic, for Harly at least, was far more serious than I had thought…? Had I accidentally treaded into a conversation that hurt her? I of course couldn't have known such a thing, having just t her here and now, but… that still made feel bad…
And I couldn't even lie and say I was in the sa boat as her…! Since I was still pretending to be pregnant already!
Harly then huffed, rather loudly, and as she did so I again heard the odd… little tick of a sound in her voice.
Maybe it really had sothing to do with… whatever she was? Her bloodline? It almost sounded as if sothing was in her lungs, or sothing… For I only heard it when she breathed heavily, or spoke and said certain words.
"Oh well…! Sorry, things got a little awkward there," Harly seed to return to normal as she gave a smile and nodded at .
"Well… it's okay," I was about to say that I understood, but decided against it and just nodded back.
"Thanks. I hear you're leaving soon?"
I nodded again. "Vim wants to leave as soon as possible, but I guess he keeps getting little requests here and there," I said. This morning, after awkwardly trying to pretend I hadn't just been talking to Renka before he had walked into the room, he had told our departure had been put off another day because of requests. He hadn't specified what any of them had been, most of them being small little things I guess, but there were enough to pile into a ti consuming task.
Harly chuckled at that. "Sorry, I'm actually one of those… I uh, asked him to check the census with ," Harly said.
Perking up at that, I frowned and nodded. "I see…?" She ant those maps, right? The Chronicler and Vim had shown them a few tis over the years, but I rarely got to see them anymore. Maybe I should go see them too before we leave…? I wonder if they were now fully updated with all our new mbers?
"Not going to ask?" she then asked.
"Hm?" Ask what?
"About why I'd asked for his help?"
"No? Why…? Do you need more help?" I asked. Wasn't it sothing personal…? She hadn't just outright said what it had been, so I had figured it was sothing private.
Harly studied for a mont… and then gave a relieved smile. "I see…"
You see what…? Why did it feel like we weren't talking about the sa things here…?
Maybe this whole conversation I'd been misunderstanding sothing…? If so I bla that weird little tic she had in her voice, it was distracting .
Harly then sighed as she stood from the bench, and I almost reached out to grab her as to stop her from doing so. I kept myself in check though, since I wasn't sure exactly what I even wanted from this conversation. She was the daughter of one of the original saints in the Society, Celine's sister, but… did that really an anything?
Either way, we had just started talking, hadn't we!? "Um…"
"I know leaving on an awkward tone is bad, but I actually have an important eting I need to get to. Do you mind if we continue this later?" Harly asked.
Important eting…? Then why had she sent Mapple to find , and not just wait until she had ti…? "Um… sure?" I decided to just accept it.
"Thanks. I uh… I'm glad you're here, Renn… and I look forward to getting to know you better. Truly! I also look forward to letting you et everyone else too," she said as she gave a smile. One that I noted was real, but… maybe a little sad?
" too…?" I said, unsure of what else to say.
She nodded. "Mhm… later then!"
"Later…" I waved as she turned and stepped away. She picked up pace as she left, but didn't outright hurry… nor did she look unsteady on her feet as she did.
Taking a deep breath, I sighed it out as I watched Harly round the corner down the hallway… and I wondered if I had insulted her, or if I had been rude or sothing.
"I had so many questions too," I mumbled as I slowly stood. As I did I reached down into my pants as to readjust my tail. A few tis during the conversation it had coiled and shifted, for one reason or another, and now it was a little out of place. I got it back around my thigh properly, where it was hidden and not visible under my clothes, and sighed again.
"Feels like I wasted ti, or sothing," I said as I went to leave.
I'd been trying to et as many of the newcors, or rather returnees, as possible before Vim and I left… but the last few I'd t, such as Harly or Saphra, had really just made feel awkward and left with more questions than answers.
"Hopefully it's not ," I whispered, as I spent a mont reliving the conversation I just now had with Harly. A few monts had felt as if I had been the one to say sothing weird, or slightly misplaced… such as when she had expressed her sorrow and concern over her… lack? Of children?
Was that even what she had ant…? I never even got any confirmation she had none, had I? Had I just assud, wrongfully? Maybe I really had misunderstood…
Rounding a corner while a little lost in thought, I thankfully was grabbed before I walked straight into Vim. He gently held by my upper arms, having grabbed before I had bumped into him.
"Careful, Renn," Vim warned.
I frowned up at him, though glad he was both here and had been kind enough to stop . The last few tis I'd walked into him like this had actually hurt, since it was like walking into a wall. "Vim… I think I just had a really awkward conversation," I said.
"Hm…?" He gave one of his smiles, the one that told he had just found what I'd said or done amusing or cute… but I ignored it.
"With Harly. The daughter of…"
"One of the Saint's daughters. Yes. I helped her earlier, she actually ran off with Mapple a little while ago. I kind of figured it was to et you," he said with a knowing nod.
Ah! So she had been with Vim just before coming to see ! "She had seemingly wanted to ask a few questions but… kind of just stopped the conversation in the middle and ran off, I think I might have either insulted her or done sothing weird," I said.
He frowned at that, and then released my arms. I shifted a little, and found it a little weird I hadn't even noticed he had been holding onto for as long as he had.
I must be really bothered to have not noticed his touch, usually I couldn't do anything but focus on him during such monts…
"Harly suffers from a form of constant mory loss, Renn. If she had seed odd, or if the conversation had gone oddly, then that is normal for her… or rather normal concerning her," Vim then said.
"Wha…?" I shifted and glanced around, since it now felt like we were talking about sothing very important and private… and luckily I found we were still alone. We were a few floors up in the Cathedral near the living quarters of the mbers, so it was quiet.
He nodded. "She suffered a terrible injury to the head when young, and since then has trouble with rembering certain details. It's… hard to explain, since it's not a typical form of mory trauma. There's not much rhy or reason to what she rembers and what she doesn't. Sotis you can talk to her, and not even notice, then other tis it's so obvious it hurts. She can switch topics mid sentence sotis, which is alarming if you're not paying attention."
Oh my gosh…! "But…" I spent a mont to reconsider our conversation just now and… yes, I could see it. Nothing had been blatantly obvious, but…
"Trust when I say she ant no ill-will. To her you two had a normal, likely fruitful conversation. It's just sothing you have to adjust when speaking with her, for her sake," he said.
"I'd… noticed sothing odd. When she spoke, sotis I thought I heard sothing weird. In her voice. So kind of scratchy sound that made my ears itch. But I genuinely hadn't noticed anything like that at all!" I said. Did that an I wasn't observant as I thought I was? Maybe I was stupid for not noticing then?
Vim simply shrugged. "She might have just not had any monts of forgetfulness during your conversation, Renn… but besides that, unless you have sothing serious to say, I've co to invite you. Soone has shown up that I'd like you to et," he said.
Hm? More new friends? "Who…?" I asked excitedly. Unlike those Mapple and the rest had brought to, or to , to et I was willing to bet whoever Vim spoke of was… going to be a different. It was so absurdly rare for Vim to actually go out of his way to ensure I t soone, other than those I already knew and stuff. At least in this form. I wonder who it was?
He simply smiled and nodded. "Let's go, then."
Yes. And hopefully put that odd conversation that went nowhere behind !
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