Chapter 12 — Atevusylvec I

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Liquin

Human Peasant

Healthy

Fatigued

Pure

Unbound

Melchagar Rauch

Elf Explorer

Dead

Unbound

Larali Dahlquist

Human Peasant

Healthy

Fatigued

Pure

Unbound

Ketra Zutis

Elf Peasant

Healthy

Wearied

Pure

Unbound

Phoenixia Fireheart

Elf Peasant

Healthy

Able

Faded

Unbound

Avalynn Sylvela

Sesylf Sylfara

Kelvek

Laravo

Dektola

Maladec sel nara Sylvec

Manifold

Human Artificer

Healthy

Able

Faded

Four Fjords Alliance

Susanoo Umehara

Elf Peasant

Healthy

Able

Pure

Unbound

Requiant Volavus

Human Peasant

Healthy

Able

Pure

Unbound

Shirogane Kei

Human Peasant

Weakened

Fatigued

Pure

Unbound

  "Not your friends, then," Lily murmured.

  Ketra nodded. "Syldarei scouts."

  "The kingdom that kicked you out."

  "More or less."

  "Meaning…"

  "If they find out who we are, they'll probably kill us."

  Lily sighed. "Okay, so they can't find out." She glanced at Avalynn. "If they try the same party trick on her…"

  They were seated against the nearest huge tree trunk, packed together tight on the wet moss. The elves had taken their weapons and left them to stew, taking only Avalynn away. Phoenixia and Larali didn't seem to mind much, still fascinated by the thick vibrant forest surrounding them. Shirogane, meanwhile, seemed to be in shock from Michael's sudden virtual demise, along with Manifold.

  "Why her?" Lily continued. Avalynn was a few dozen paces away, speaking with the apparent leader of the patrol. "Do they know her or something?"

  "Shh," said Susanoo, glaring at the pair of them. "You trying to get us killed?"

  Lily rolled her eyes. "If they were gonna kill us, they would have done it already." Or whenever they try to see Avalynn's guild membership… Still, just to be safe, Lily started a Whisper spell. It tugged at her like she'd just hung a weight on an invisible hook inside her chest, but at least she could be sure of privacy for a minute. "Why even have a guild membership if it's gonna bite you in the ass like this?"

  "The other benefits, just like being in a party," said Ketra. "And it's symbolic."

  "Symbolic of getting us killed," Lily grumbled.

  Ketra sighed. "If we die, I agree that it's entirely her fault."

  Lily grinned. "Okay, I'm good with that."

  The apparent leader of the Syldarei elves suddenly turned and began to walk toward them, Avalynn only a step behind. Lily quickly released the Whisper spell. Her hand instinctively went to her belt—but of course, they'd already surrendered their weapons.

  "You, come," said the leader, two fingers pointing at Ketra and Lily.

  Lily raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, dude?"

  Ketra got to her feet, holding out a hand to help Lily up. Lily took it, but she didn't let up on the guy.

  "Look, I get roleplaying and all, but you can speak normal English at least, right?"

  The elf sighed. "Yeah. Come on."

  The trio followed him out of the clearing, away from the rest of the group. As soon as they were out of earshot of both the scouts and Lily's party, the leader turned to the three of them.

  "Look, I don't want to get screwed over by Masnas. That's who you guys work for, right?"

  Lily's jaw almost dropped, but Ketra neatly covered up her momentary shock. "We do."

  The guy nodded. "Your friend here said that if I help you out, I wouldn't end up with my head on a list."

  "Precisely," said Ketra. Avalynn smirked.

  "Didn't know you were branching out into humans," the elf added, glancing at Lily uneasily.

  "You guys kicked 'em out," said Lily casually, with a shrug. She was catching up as fast as she could, and figured she'd just build off whatever lie Avalynn had started.

  "She could take any of us in single combat," added Ketra, with a sidelong smile at Lily, which sent her another tingle of warmth. "What do you think she'd do to you?"

  The guy winced. Sheesh, what a pushover. "What do you need me to do?"

  "Take us to the nearest suunsyl," said Ketra, "and clear us for travel inside the forest. I know you can't give us clearance for the Syldarei sylvec. Just the basics for sanctuary in this forest is fine."

  The guy nodded. "Okay."

  "And my weapons back would be nice," added Lily, fidgeting slightly. She felt far more comfortable with the blades tucked on her belt, especially after the couple of days she'd spent so far in Avo.

  He hurried away, calling orders to his companions in Elvish. Lily grinned at Ketra. "That went well."

  She didn't respond. Ketra turned to Avalynn, and her expression had chilled to ice in an instant. "You threatened him." Ketra murmured.

  Avalynn didn't respond.

  "You threatened another elf. A Syldarei elf."

  She spat on the ground. "Dellis masasylas suuna dosan."

  "We betrayed them first," Ketra shot back.

  Avalynn walked away, grabbing up her short sword and daggers from the pile. Ketra shook her head in disgust.

  "What did you do?" asked Lily.

  Ketra sighed. "A misunderstanding which led to a lot of killing. Nobody really agrees on whose fault it was. I'm not really sure either, since it all started in private offline chat. Someone brought real world drama into Avo, and it cascaded from there."

  So much drama. It's just a game, no matter how much you get into the roleplaying. Lily rolled her eyes. "Everyone here takes this place way too seriously."

  The dark expression on Ketra's face made Lily wince. She shook her head quickly, but the damage was done. Ketra's next sentence was far less warm and comfortable than before. "Come on. We should get going."

  ***

  The forest of Atevusylvec blew away every expectation Lily had.

  Sure, the Haalfwood was impressive—especially for someone who grew up in the half-flooded disaster zone that was modern Florida—but it couldn't hold a branch to the depths of Atevusylvec. For the first time, Lily truly appreciated the difference between a wood and a forest.

  For long stretches, the canopy was so thick that no sunlight pierced through. Patches every hundred meters or so let light in, but otherwise, the forest was lit by vague ethereal green and white lights. They danced around trunks so thick it would take ten of her to surround them, at least. Grass and moss filled the empty spaces, and the whole world in every direction was full of energy.

  The thick smell of the forest combined with the petrichor from the recent rainfall, a pleasant sensation on her nose. Wind whistled through the branches in brief gusts. In the distance, Lily could hear a stream, though it sounded strange, echoing in ways she wouldn't expect. Squirrels darted between the leaves, deer flitted in the distance, butterflies and birds spun around and above them. Lily felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of movement in every direction, the life of the forest.

  "I'm glad you're here," murmured Ketra, walking next to Lily at the front of the group.

  The group of elven scouts had surrounded them, with two on every side at a fair distance. Avalynn was with the leader ahead, while the rest of their ragtag group stuck close together behind Ketra and Lily.

  "It's incredible," Lily whispered.

  "You don't need to whisper," said Ketra with a smile. "It's not a library or anything—wait… do you still have libraries?"

  "Yes, we still have libraries." She rolled her eyes. "I'm in Ohio. It's still in the North American Union, you know."

  "I'd heard…" Ketra shook her head. "Must have been somewhere else."

  Lily decided to take a chance, since the topic had been opened. "Where are you from?"

  It didn't get the reaction she wanted at all. Ketra got very quiet, and she immediately regretted ever bringing it up. Stupid. We're in Avo, and she loves this place. Asking stuff about the real world is way over the line. Let her bring it up.

  "Sorry. Don't answer that."

  "Cascadia," said Ketra quietly, not looking at Lily.

  "...Really?"

  "Yes." She looked up, smiling. "It was my box of apples."

  Lily burst out laughing—partly at the way she said it, but more than anything at just how pleased with herself Ketra seemed to be. "You're incredible."

  Her face lit up red. "No."

  "You really are! I just wish I'd gotten to eat some of the real ones!" Lily cut back her laugh, not wanting Ketra to feel bad. "So where are you from in Avo? Or… uhh, does that question even make sense?"

  Ketra smiled. "It does, don't worry. Avalynn and I are Northern elves, as Phoenixia mentioned earlier. I'm not from this forest specifically, but there's a related forest across the mountains and desert to the east."

  "What's that one called?"

  "Atevusylvec." Ketra smirked. "Atevu is north, and sylvec is forest. Humans assumed that was the name. I assume they've given my forest a name as well, but I've never heard it."

  Lily glanced around, gesturing out into the vast forest space. "Is it as beautiful as this one?"

  "Yes." She smiled. "I'd love for you to come there someday."

  "It's a date."

  Oh no. Lily's cheeks flared up instantly, and she winced. To her relief, Ketra only smiled, before looking straight forward into the forest. She didn't say a word, and neither did Lily. They let the thought hang, and for the moment, Lily took it as a win. Better than saying something dumb and making her feel bad again.

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  Instead, she decided to focus on the elf scouts escorting them. Lily wasn't quite convinced they weren't a threat anymore, no matter what sanctuary rights or whatever they might believe in. She'd been given back her equipment, untouched, but there were still eight of them against only the seven in her party—if Lily were being generous. She considered Manifold a net negative for sure, and Requiant wasn't exactly the best fighter either.

  If they had to fight, Lily was pretty sure they'd lose. The way every elf moved seemed too practiced and balanced.

  They're players, not like us. It's the game, not their actual stance and balance. I can't assume my judgment is accurate until I actually see them fight. Except… I also don't know anything about what they might be able to do besides fight. I need to know more about this world if I'm gonna keep us safe, and what's at my disposal.

  "My brother mentioned something about being a spellsword," said Lily aloud, continuing off her thoughts.

  "Is that something you want to explore?" asked Ketra.

  "I mean… Magic seems pretty cool. Is there a disadvantage, besides the stuff I already know?"

  Ketra shrugged. "It depends on what you mean by disadvantage. Raw strength isn't everything in a world with magic. You'd have to decide what you want to become."

  "I really like the idea," said Lily, excitement creeping into her voice. "It's just so cool. Even the healing spell I did, or just the Whisper spell. I want to be able to do things like that."

  "And mix it with your incredible sword fighting," said Ketra, nodding.

  Lily blushed. "...Thanks?"

  "You'll want to learn more spells, first and foremost. That'll take etolendei, like the one stored in my healing pendant, or whatever Michael had to learn Whisper from."

  "Do you just find them?"

  She shrugged. "Sure. Monster dens, abandoned castles, so on. That's the adventuring way to learn new magic and get better equipment."

  "It's just… lying around?" asked Lily skeptically. Doesn't sound like my brother…

  "Of course not," said Ketra with another cryptic smirk. "It's the leftovers."

  "The… oh." Lily gulped. "How scary are monsters in this?" Ketra only smiled, which sent a shiver down Lily's spine. "So what's the non-adventuring way to learn magic?"

  "Artificers, magicians, thaumaturges, wizards, witches, and all the other magic-focused professions tend to store their etolendei in objects. It's convenient, especially if they forget the spell and need to look it up again. Spellbooks are really just a binding for a bunch of etolendei-infused papers."

  "Costs money, I'm guessing?"

  Ketra nodded. "Some are quite exorbitant. You can get pretty cheap spells in lesser towns, but the best, most expensive magic comes out of the Thaumaturgical Society of Candir, which is far to the south."

  "And closer?"

  "We could try Felnir."

  Lily raised her eyebrows. "The guys who just tried to kill us?"

  "They believed we were spies, and we were crossing through their patrol zone. If we simply walk into the city, I doubt we'd have any trouble." Ketra glanced off in a direction seemingly at random to Lily—she'd never had the best sense of direction. "It's not far to the south."

  "Hey," said Kevin, startling them both. He'd come up behind them while they were talking.

  "What?" snapped Lily, annoyed. I was enjoying talking to her…

  "Easy, Tigerlily," said Kevin—which, of course, set her off even more. She fumed at his casual nickname use… even if she'd always kinda liked that name. "I just think we need a game plan here."

  "For what?"

  Lily looked around the forest. As a spectacle, it was amazing, but in terms of active threats… she doubted there was anything for miles at this point. So long as they had their elven escort, Lily was pretty sure they'd be just fine.

  "We go to the suunsyl, find a quiet spot, Avalynn calls Lucy, we get this fixed and log out. Nice and simple."

  "Most spots in a suunsyl are quiet," added Ketra. "It shouldn't be difficult."

  Kevin frowned. "Yeah, but if you haven't noticed… Avalynn's a freak."

  "You don't have to be an asshole about it, Kev," said Lily icily. And now I'm defending Avalynn, of all people.

  "She's hot, but seriously," said Kevin, "what if she doesn't want to cast it?"

  "We make her."

  Ketra shook her head. "You'd have an easier time persuading a rock to fly to Sennum. I don't think she'll be a problem, though."

  "Uh-huh," said Lily skeptically.

  "To put it bluntly," said Ketra carefully, "she doesn't believe you belong in Avo."

  Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay then."

  "She's not wrong, Lils," added Kevin. "Even I can see that. You kinda act like anybody who takes this place seriously is an idiot."

  "...Huh?" Lily shook her head. "No I don't. I'm serious about this too."

  The air around them seemed to be getting warmer. Ketra looked a little uncomfortable and didn't say another word. Kevin, of course, had no trouble speaking his mind around Lily.

  "Sure, you're taking our situation seriously, but the world? All you care about is what'll help us get out of here."

  "That's not true," said Lily hotly. "There's other things too."

  Kevin looked about to say something else, but quickly changed his mind. He shook his head. "Whatever, Lils. I'm not getting into it. Looks like we're almost there, anyway," he added, nodding ahead of the little group.

  Sure enough, there seemed to be a sudden increase in the lights illuminating the forest—and even more exciting, Lily could hear music stirring the forest. A faint string instrument she couldn't name, accompanied by a flute, somewhere through the maze of trees they had yet to navigate. It was a beacon drawing them home.

  As Kevin fell back to rejoin the rest of the group, Lily moved closer to Ketra, who still hadn't spoken anything.

  "...You don't agree with him, do you?" she asked uncomfortably.

  Ketra was squinting ahead, peering through the trees. Her pointed ears poked through her hair as she leaned to the side, still tied back in the crown Lily had helped her with. "I think you've only been here two days."

  "How long did it take you?"

  "To do what?"

  "Take this world seriously."

  Ketra finally turned to face Lily. Her expression seemed… distant. Lily felt like a barrier had come up between them, not so literal as the white fog from the cliffside, but still separating what had been a budding friendship and possibly more. She spoke with a cautious voice, mixed disappointment with just a hint of hope lurking at the edges.

  "When you actually understand what you're asking me, that's when you'll know."

  Ketra didn't say another word all the way into the suunsyl, but neither did she leave Lily's side. They walked together in near-silence through the trees, following their elven guides, into a place unlike anything Lily had ever seen.

  ***

  The suunsyl could be described as a collection of treehouses, if Lily wanted to oversimplify it—and probably piss off a lot of elves too. Tucked into the thick branches of the trees were structures, some as small as an apartment, others as huge as cathedrals. Each had lights dancing about it, illuminating it amongst the rafters of the forest, and not a single one was within reach of the surface.

  Weaving around the trees high above, suspended in midair, Lily found her answer to the odd watery sounds—a river flowing in the canopy. It did not sit upon any surface, though it still made a sound of trickling water as it ran around tree trunks and through their branches. She saw neither source nor destination, simply an endless flow of water near which every treehouse had been built. It dove between twisting coils of branches which formed bridges between the various homes and platforms high in the trees, and seemingly every home had a place for water to make its way inside.

  Were the houses first, or the floating river? Lily wanted to ask Ketra if the treehouses were a stylistic choice, a cultural thing, a strategy against invasion, anything… but she held her tongue, in part because she still felt uncertain about their last conversation, but more importantly, they were now surrounded by elves.

  It seemed like the whole community had come out to greet them. Lily guessed it at a couple hundred minimum—likely many more since these were only the ones who were interested in strangers entering the area. They streamed out of their homes and down staircases that wound around the trunks, reaching the forest floor and surrounding the group in short order.

  Lily tried to pick out a leader among them, but none seemed particularly more dressed or with nicer weapons than any other. She wished she could just ask Ketra, but even a Whisper spell seemed like a huge risk now. Elves had enhanced hearing, and to cast the spell, Lily would have to speak it aloud. She didn't want to set off an incident if they thought she was trying to conceal something.

  Finally, one elf walked through the crowd—the first Lily had seen with any kind of wrinkles on his skin. Still, he dressed in much the same fashion as his community, and except for his age, Lily could not have called him out of a crowd given all the time in the world.

  "Nom se della?" he asked, looking at the leader of the elven scouts.

  "Who are they?" whispered Ketra for Lily's benefit. One of the elves shot her a look, and Ketra fell silent. Lily was left in the dark for the rest of the conversation, though it was thankfully brief, as the scout and the older elf spoke quickly and without hesitation.

  "Masadalv, fissylf."

  "To della maldissa?" asked the elder, looking at the group carefully.

  The scout nodded. "Selnou. Della se volasecev."

  "Sed suuna esusyl della?"

  Another glance at the group, from both of them. Lily waited as patiently as she could, though every second felt like another where she might find a dozen arrows sprouting from her chest. I'm glad I wouldn't really die, but… that slice earlier seriously hurt. I don't want to find out how much it hurts to die.

  "Rashes," said the scout.

  A sigh accompanied an accepting nod from the elder. The scout turned back to us, and to Lily's utter relief, he spoke English.

  "We grant you the right of sanctuary in our suunsyl. The guest faldyana is available for you until tomorrow, when we will escort you to whichever side of Atevusylvec you wish."

  Just one night? wondered Lily. Pretty weak sanctuary. She expected Ketra to say something, but to her surprise, Avalynn was the first to speak.

  "Vannen, sylfev sel nara atevus. Suuna se tona doues masil."

  The elder nodded. Without warning, the entire group dispersed—some back to their homes, some out into the forest, and some simply to the space below the river and the homes. Lily realized it wasn't quite as empty as she expected—there were places to sit, small fenced off areas, and what appeared to be a staircase down into an excavated pit of some kind.

  Their escort was gone too. Suddenly, it was just the seven of them, as if the whole elven community just didn't care anymore.

  "So… what just happened?" asked Lily impatiently, glancing at Avalynn.

  Ketra answered after Avalynn didn't, simply returning Lily's question with an irritating smug smile. "The elder asked if we were dangerous, and the scouts said yes. He asked if we could be trusted, and they said 'enough.' Avalynn thanked them." Ketra glanced at her. "I didn't expect that to go so smoothly."

  "That was smooth?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "I was sweating bullets over here."

  Larali laughed. "You gotta get out more. That was like a group hug in terms of elves greeting non-elves."

  "Look," said Shirogane impatiently, "can we just go to the house already? I seriously need to get home."

  "Yeah, yeah." Larali turned and started off, Nixie nipping at her heels like an excited puppy. "Come on, people."

  Toward the center of the suunysl was a tree which didn't reach to the canopy, nor did it have any branch-bridges connecting it to other trees. A lone house, slightly bigger than many of the others, hung a few meters below the floating river, and a trickle seemed to be drawn straight down into a chimney-like opening in the top.

  Larali and Nixie led them up a winding staircase. Lily followed close behind with Ketra, eager to see the inside, while Avalynn came just behind, practically escorted by Kevin—Lily had the impression she'd intended to sneak off somehow, but the rest of the group had discouraged the idea. Shirogane, Requiant, and Manifold brought up the rear, chattering about some other element of the game. As they reached the top, Larali was already pulling open the smooth wooden door and heading inside.

  The guest house wasn't actually that bad, at least compared to what Lily had expected. It had four bedrooms—two with double beds, one with matching singles, and one with four single beds—and a few spaces to lounge around and take a load off. Everything was made of wood and weaved fibers, and while it looked hard and rough, it ended up being quite smooth and comfortable to sit on.

  More interesting was the small kitchen area. It comprised a section of stone set into the trunk of the tree and supported by the branch root. This was the chimney source, where water flowed into a cistern next to a firepit. Lily's eyes widened slightly at the fire burning merrily inside. It made the house warm and cozy, sure—but inside a tree?

  Ketra shrugged, spotting Lily's reaction. "It's not hard to control it. Magic and a never-ending water supply make dousing fires much easier."

  "Huh." Lily glanced at the fire again, apprehension replaced by excitement. "In that case… do we have anything to eat?"

  Larali chuckled. "Still got some of that rat meat, if you want it," she said cheerily. She'd taken off her broadsword and laid it against the stone wall before lounging on one of the wide wooden seats. Nixia took a spot on the ground near the fire, rocking back and forth in front of it happily.

  "Ugh," said Lily. "No, thank you."

  "Avalynn?" asked Shirogane impatiently, barely inside the door. Requiant and Manifold had both taken off their equipment to sit near the fire, but he was still dressed in full robes with his staff, as if he expected to leave any moment.

  "Selnou?"

  "Don't mess with me right now, girl," he sighed. "Just try her again already, okay?"

  Avalynn shook her head. "Melchagar stated that Luciana would not be awake yet. I will not exhaust my spell again until after that time."

  "How long?" asked Kevin.

  "Ten minutes."

  A collective sigh around the group—and an incredible mix of feelings. Lily couldn't possibly process them all, but she paid close attention to Ketra and Kevin alike. Ketra seemed very mixed, which fit Lily's expectations. No doubt she loved staying in Avo and any mention of departure was a mixed bag, but she also had a career and a life waiting back home.

  Kevin, if anything, seemed even more conflicted, which did surprise her. While he'd clearly taken to the world in some ways, Lily would have expected him to go home as soon as he could. He had a girlfriend and a family to get back to, not to mention a tournament coming up sooner than she did. Esports made more than it used to, but missing even a single event was still a huge hit to their income.

  Lily was exhausted by it all—between the fights, the long walks and runs, the intensity… she needed a few minutes of peace. Since nobody else seemed to be moving, she took her opportunity to duck into one of the bedrooms. It was a wide double bed with covers in a material similar to the couches, and as Lily sat down, the bed felt pleasantly soft and warm.

  "Hi," said Ketra.

  Her eyes shot up to the door. Ketra had followed her inside, and though she left the door open, the rest of the group was talking and muffled enough they likely wouldn't be overheard.

  "Hey." Lily took off her belt and weapons, setting them on the bedside table. "Just needed to take a break here."

  "Oh." Ketra glanced down slightly. "Want me to—"

  "Come sit here? Yes," said Lily, patting the bed at her side.

  After a moment's hesitation, Ketra smiled. She set her bow down against the wall and walked across the room to sit next to Lily. They were still more than a few centimeters apart, but between the weight on the bed and the faint warmth coming from her skin, Lily was very aware of Ketra next to her.

  "Can you teach me Elvish?" Lily blurted suddenly.

  "What?"

  "I… I want to learn it," she added, suddenly sheepish. "It sounds really interesting and cool."

  Ketra frowned. "I don't know if I'd be a very good teacher."

  "But you speak it perfectly, don't you?"

  "I guess so." Ketra shrugged. "Maybe. Why do you want to learn it?"

  "So I can understand—" Lily cut off. She'd been about to say 'you', but figured Ketra might read way too many things into that word, few of which were what she meant. "—everybody around here," she finished lamely.

  "...Where do we start?"

  Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I never learned another language." She hesitated slightly, glancing at Ketra sideways. "What does your name mean?"

  "Nothing, as far as I know. It's not Elvish."

  A bird landed on the windowsill nearby—if it could even be called a window. Lily wasn't sure what qualified something as a window, but this was simply a wide hole in the wall near eye-level. "How'd you come up with it?"

  "I just did." Ketra winced, her face reddening up again. "Sorry… I wish I had a more interesting answer than that. It just came into my head one day."

  "I like it," said Lily. "It sounds like you."

  "Yeah." She nodded. "That's how I felt too. It's nothing like my real name, but my real name never felt like me anyway. This just feels… right, you know?"

  "I guess." Lily shrugged. "I mean, we already went over how dumb my name origin is," she added with a grin. "I'd rather it be something unique and cool like yours."

  "Do you like your name?" asked Ketra, shifting a little on the bed. Lily kept watching the bird on the windowsill, which had been joined by another, both chirping and picking something off the bark on the branch outside. "I've always wondered if other people like their names."

  "I guess so?" Lily shrugged. "I never really thought about it much. Nicknames though, I definitely have some I like and some I hate."

  "...Anything I need to avoid?"

  She laughed. "If they come up, I'll let you know."

  They sat in silence for a little while, listening to the murmur of talk out in the common area, watching the birds dance back and forth on the window. Outside, a light spun past their window—and up close, Lily could see a tiny figure inside, barely visible in the bright colorful light. "What was that?"

  "A faerie. They keep the forest strong."

  Lily took a chance. She leaned in toward Ketra—and almost immediately, Ketra did the same. They sat close, watching the window, enjoying the moment together.

  "Hey," murmured Lily.

  "Yes, Lils?"

  She giggled. "That sounds so weird."

  Ketra winced.

  "I meant just—" said Lily quickly, slapping herself mentally a dozen times. "It's what my best friend used to call me when we were kids, but she'd never say the word 'yes'. It's so you."

  "It's definitely the nickname I'd pick for you, from the ones I've heard."

  "...Yeah, that's probably my favorite," agreed Lily. "But you can just call me Lily, if you want. Or whatever you want, I don't mind."

  "...I'm sorry," said Ketra quietly.

  "For what?"

  "Walking away," she said simply.

  Before Lily could ask what she meant, though, there was a call from the other room. Instantly, they sprang apart—Lily to the head of the bed, Ketra to the wall near her bow. A few seconds later, Phoenixia bounded into their room.

  "Avalynn got ahold of Luciana," she reported breathlessly. "Shirogane wants you to come talk to her, Liquin."

  Lily nodded. She got up and grabbed her belt, strapping her weapons back on. Even though they were just getting ahold of her brother's coworker, it still felt like a confrontation. Beside her, Ketra picked up her bow. Together, they followed Phoenixia back into the common room where the others awaited.