‘I think it should be somewhere that way?’ Ren said as we looked at the lake’s twisty coastline.

We were chasing after Kojiro. We’ve learned from Ireela, ecstatic to see her daughter safe and sound, that the bastard had left the estate shortly after they were done with Lilyth for the morning. The idea of him just using her like that and then discarding like a broken toy…

You’ll pay for that, motherfucker.

We had a quick debate on what we should do, given how we were two party members short, and it was decided that Lilyth and Aki would remain at the estate under the care of Savri, while Ren and I would try to find her monster of a brother.

Ireela was less pleased by that prospect, but we didn't care about her opinion on the matter. We stopped first at the village to check whether Kojiro passed through there on his way out. As we learned from Aldvil, he hasn't been seen in Mer-Cas since that morning. He was also very relieved to learn that we found Lilyth alive and said he and his wife would go check up on her later.

While in the village, Ren also stopped by the village elder, a man named Baial to arrange some help in clearing bodies from the estate, though I think the news about Ireela's staff being massacred broke him.

Rennie later explained that they were all people from the village, so Baial personally knew every single one of them. Then she whispered that one of the guards was his son-in-law and one of the maids was Waljay’s granddaughter. Ren made sure to deliver that piece of news personally. She tremendously respected the old man and the woman was her childhood friend, so it only felt right that she was the one to deliver the news.

Waljay, tearing up, thanked Ren for the news and asked that we make Kojiro suffer for what he did. It struck me then that Jukya, as the girl was called, likely wasn’t just killed by the Red Masks, though I didn't recall seeing any outward signs of that. Both women there were fully dressed.

Maybe she lucked out.

That was a fucked-up thing to think about someone who was murdered in cold blood… but… I would take quick and easy over go through what Lilyth did and only then being…

Focus, Caei. FUCKING. FOCUS.

After delivering the “happy” news to the village, and wishing this horrible day was over, we chose to go look for the landing site of the ships we saw in the night. That felt like a lifetime ago now. The wonderful time when one of my wives wasn’t gang-raped and the other a broken and terrified mess. Ah…. The wonderful time of… I checked my interface clock.

The wonderful time of ten hours ago.

I didn't blame Aki one bit for finally snapping. I was barely holding it together too at that point; if you opened a dictionary on “not fine” you would just see a picture of Lilyth there, and I had a very strong suspicion that Savri and Ren weren't doing all that much better either.

We need a fucking break and we need it now.

I was really grateful to Nyx and Irmen for convincing us to call the search for Kaede off. Having seen what I had seen in the estate, I was no longer sure whether she was involved in the assassination attempt. It was the only option that made sense… but why would a woman support those people? In either case, fuck that bitch. Later on, when I discussed the subject with Lilyth, she muttered something leperds eating people's faces, and explained that people supporting groups working against their interest was shockingly common on Terra and that you couldn't fix stupid. All I can say is that the longer I was away from the bubble that was the society of the Sanguine the more I understood why Lilyth swore so much. It may not have been the best place to live, but it was somewhat predictable.

Coming back to our hunt, the shores of the lake were actually pretty woody once you got far enough away from the estate and the village. The path was also pretty uneven and windy, leading to us having issues figuring out where we should go.

‘How well do you know this area?’ I asked Rennie.

‘This far from Mer-Cas? Not very. Mom never liked me hanging out here, and I had very little reason to sneak out here. There is nothing here and I never had much interest in boys as you know. Dodged a bullet there, it seems.’

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‘Believe me,’ I said weakly. ‘The vast majority of them aren’t even remotely this bad. And sex with them can be fun if they know what they are doing. That being said… I think I am also good on that front after today.’

For that matter, I didn't feel like having sex at all for the foreseeable future.

‘It’s surprising to learn you actually like it both ways,’ Ren sighed. ‘Leera has never shown any interest in men, so I assumed you were the same. I guess I now know why…’

She laughed bitterly.

‘You know… I have to keep reminding myself that Leera and I are technically the same person. Whenever you tell me about a habit of hers or something she would do or say, I think to myself “This is what I would do as well.” Then it hits me that in this world, I did do it.’

‘That must be an insane headspace to be in,’ Rennie smiled weakly. ‘Though I get it. I cannot decide whether you are the best or the worst thing to have happened to me. Whenever I see you, I have a reminder that the woman I love is gone forever. But… you are the only reason I am still alive and for the first time in a long time, I actually feel good about myself and I get to meet you and y- our friends.’

Happy she is warming up to us.

‘I am happy we got to meet you. Weirdly, I am very happy Leera is in my head. Because I got to make a new friend. An actual friend. Back home the only people in life were the occasional fuckbuddies, a “brother” I hated and well… the horrible monsters we call our brethren.’

‘A brother?’ Ren asked, surprised. ‘I never heard Leera mention any family.’

‘Because I don’t… didn't have any family until recently. Laachersain… well… we came from the same “litter” for the lack of a better word. The Blood spawns us as adults in groups of six. Imagine your first memory being emerging completely naked, save for those fucking masks, from a pool of blood, along with five strangers. And this being the Pale Badlands, it only gets worse. So much worse.’

Ren looked queasy.

‘A pool of blood?’

‘Small pond really. There are whole lakes of it in some places, larger than this one.’

I pointed to Lake Heligst.

‘I heard stories about there being a whole sea of it somewhere, but I never felt like looking for it. No one did.’

‘And that answers why Leera never talked about home.’

‘It is a sad life that she led, all things considered. First, twenty years in the Badlands, then her exile from there, being Kojiro's toy… the first time she felt happy in her life was after meeting you. And then she would die because of it.’

I saw that Ren was misting up.

‘By the gods…’ she whispered.

‘So… in her name… allow me to say this. Thank you, Rennie. Thank you for making the last few years of her life happy.’

That broke the dam, but hey… it was as good a time for a quick rest as any.

Note to self: Don’t discuss sensitive subjects while on the job, I thought to myself as we resumed our “hunt” five minutes later.

Sav would probably never let me live that one down. She’d be right of course.

I think I really owe Lilyth an apology. What I did was just as stupid as what she could do. Hell, if Kojiro or his men heard Ren’s crying we’d probably be fu-... scr-... in a very bad situation.

Ren did try to suppress it, but good going, Caei! You made a woman some part of you is still deeply in love with cry while you are both in mortal danger and should be as quiet as possible.

So we spent the rest of our trek in awkward silence. Neither of us wanted to risk starting another conversation. It was all for nothing, however, as after a few more minutes we saw a large covered boat emerge onto the lake from some hidden spot. We hurried to catch up to it, but we were far too slow. By the time we got out of the trees, the boat was outside the range of my spells. Ren wanted to shoot at it with her bow, but I stopped her. There was no point. Even if she managed to hit the boat, chances were it would only bring down return fire on us.

And so we could only watch as the vessel got smaller and smaller. Eventually, I sighed:

‘Let’s go find where it was docked. Maybe they left some clues there.

After a few minutes, we found a small water-filled cave which was converted into a docking bay by building a wooden wharf inside.

The only thing we found there was a sealed letter addressed to Rennie. She opened it with shaking hands and got paler with every word she read. Then she turned red and handed the message. I skimmed it over, then crumpled it and set it on fire with [Flame Tongue].

‘Don’t let him get to you,’ I told her, utterly without conviction.

The message opened a well of fear I never thought existed inside of me. It was the terror that Leera felt whenever she heard Kojiro's footsteps. The letter read:

Ren,

Tell Leera and the elf I will be back for them. And then I will make you watch.

See you soon, sister,

Kojiro