"...So that's the plan, then," Lady Vesuvius concludes. "We replace the compulsion to love Ars with a compulsion to dislike him, set that to cascade, then return later to wipe the slate clean. We'll have to carefully select propagation points and keep a careful eye on the epidemic, but as of right now… we just kick that off and go home, I suppose. We don't really have the resources to offer reconstruction aid to Baldone at this juncture."

I hesitate, unsure if I should bring up the obvious burning question. I thrum my quills, soaking in a little warmth and flexing my talons on the wood floor. They dragged me all the way out here with them, so I guess I can assume I'm allowed to be privy to what's going on. Even if I basically didn't do anything.

"Um, sorry, but isn't this just the plan that got rejected yesterday?" I ask, instinctively raising my hand before speaking like I was taught to do in Templar training.

I glance at Vita as I ask, since 'we' didn't reject the plan so much as just her. She looks… kind of embarrassed, based on her body language: one set of arms crossed, the other set doing the cross-body tricep hold that I've seen humans do when they're uncomfortable. Even her fluffy wings are kind of droopy. What did she and Jelisa even talk about?

"In essence, yes," Lady Vesuvius confirms. "The main objection was how it worsened the prospects of island-wide unification, but the situation has been reevaluated and the timetable for conquest has been pushed backwards."

Pushed backwards, huh? So they're still going to take over the island and plunge it into war, just not right now.

"We're going to try to do the most good," Vita says quietly. "Rushing things will only mess that up."

It sounds like she's quoting something, but I quote things all the time so I guess I can't fault her for that. It's weird seeing her like this, though. All… vulnerable-looking. Not physically, of course: my senses are screaming at me to devour her, to engorge myself on the raw, unparalleled power rushing through every last inch of her body, an urge that I know giving into would almost certainly mean death. Even if I were to kill her body, the only way I have to destroy a soul completely is to swallow it whole… and even that, I suppose, isn't even accurate. My digestive system is apparently just a conduit to an evil goddess, the creator of my species of cruelty. And of course she's apparently Vita's family somehow, so that wouldn't even help.

I hate how people are taking her rendition of how the world works as fact now, but what I hate even more is that I'm starting to see it. Jelisa, in particular, made a lot of good points. Maybe the Mistwatcher is a god, but does that necessarily mean he's a good one? Vita certainly isn't, and if her claims have any accuracy to them… gah.

Whatever. It doesn't matter. Not having to deal with an island-wide war in the immediate future is more than enough for me now. Vita killed Ars, we're going to… well, I don't want to say 'fix people,' but we're going to undo what he did as best we can. And again, most of these decisions were made without me. That irritates me, as much as I don't actually want to be part of island-changing decisions in the first place. I guess it's because I'm still here, for whatever reason. I'm still invited to this table of superhumans. I suppose if someone were to look at us, they'd assume I belong more with Vita and Penelope than I do with Jelisaveta. With any human, really. But I don't feel that way at all.

Maybe it was a mistake to get involved. It's times like this that make me feel as though I've never learned a single thing since the moment August died. I'm still a child that understands nothing but her own weakness. Yet for the first time since then, I once again want to be stronger. If someone else like Ars appears again—if Vita becomes like Ars, one way or another—someone needs to be able to stop her.

"All right then," Lady Vesuvius declares. "We will be heading home then, albeit with a few stops along the way. Flying formation, people."

That's first on my list of things to learn, I suppose: flight. Followed by teleportation. My speed on the ground means little in the face of those two things, and that's my main strength. I have to adapt and improve, as my species was built for. For now, though, I walk over to Penelope so she can pick me up. To my surprise, though, Jelisa also comes with me.

"Uh, actually, Lark," Jelisa says hesitantly, "if it's not too much trouble, I wanted to fly with Lady Vesuvius this time around. We have stuff to talk about."

Lady Vesuvius, for her part, raises an inquisitive eye-ridge, but doesn't answer. I hesitate, glancing over at Vita. I'm less than enthused to take a cross-island trip in her arms, but I don't really have a good reason to say no. So I nod, and awkwardly approach the Lich I murdered that one time. At least she's looking as uncomfortable with this arrangement as I am, though I guess that's a bit weird in its own right. Vita doesn't tend to look uncomfortable about anything.

"Sorry about this," Vita murmurs quietly. "I know I'm not your favorite choice of transportation, but I think Jelisa will be able to help Penelope with some things. Ready to go?"

I blink with surprise. Another unexpected apology. Not sure what to say to that, I turn around and lift my arms so Vita can get an easy grip on me and pick me up. She does so, her hard chitin limbs cool and unyielding where Lady Vesuvius's scales were pliable and warm. I shouldn't try to think about warmth, though. I'll cut her arms off if I extend my quills in this position.

Lady Vesuvius and Jelisa start talking soon after our flight starts, though I can't hear them. They've put a silence bubble around themselves, so I guess it must be private.

"So, um, I guess I never asked," Vita suddenly says. "What were you up to during the months I was gone? I was surprised to see you with Penelope rather than the Templars. I know you, um, really liked our squad."

I tense up. Our squad? Really? She kills Melik, pretends to be him, and has the gall to say she was part of 'our' squad? No, no, calm down. She fought with us when she didn't have to. She saved our lives. She only killed Melik because I killed her first. I can't get mad about something as small as a word.

"...We learned that Templar Command was responsible for some perception event, or something," I answer as evenly as possible. "Lady Vesuvius cornered them and Jelisa heard them lie about it. I wasn't really around for the perception event but I know that a lot of people died. It was a big deal. They were… evil."

"Yeah," Vita agrees. "Yeah, they're right bastards. They arrested me in the middle of the perception event, you know? They got me because I was running around and trying to rescue people. Killing zombies. Helping. But they cared more about capturing me than saving lives."

"Yeah," I nod. "I heard about that, too."

There's an awkward pause.

"Sorry," she says. "It's something that makes me angry, but I didn't mean to make the conversation about me."

Alright, I can't take it anymore.

"Where are all these apologies suddenly coming from, Vita?" I ask. "Not that I'm complaining, but…"

"It's Malrosa, actually," she says. "At least right now. And I guess the apologies are because I feel like you deserve them but I don't know what else to say."

"Oh," I answer. I'm not sure what to say about the apologies, so instead I say "Should I ask your name whenever we talk? I'm starting to learn how to tell the different Altrixes apart, but I still have to call her Altrix a lot of the time."

"Asking us constantly is okay if you want to, but it's a little… inefficient. We ended up not liking my first idea for a shared name, though."

"Hmm," I murmur, thinking back on past conversations for something to use. "What about 'Princess?' You were making people call you that anyway, right?"

She chuckles at that.

"That's not a name, it's a title," she points out.

"Yeah, but if it's a name, I think people would be less opposed to actually calling you that," I point out.

She tilts her head.

"Huh," she murmurs. "Yeah. That's… you might be onto something there. Human independence, huh?"

"...I guess? It just feels like the kind of thing people would bristle less at, is all."

"Okay, well when you're not sure, I guess you can call me Princess," Vita nods. I mean, Malrosa nods. Gah. Gotta get used to that. Not because I really want to interact with her, of course, but when I do interact with her, there's no good reason to be rude.

"I'll remember that," I say instead, since most people like to hear me say it even though it's guaranteed. I'm not sure what else to say, so I'm just kind of trying to get this conversation to end. Malrosa lets out a weak chuckle.

"Y'know, it's kind of funny," she says. "During our human life, Vita used to think she couldn't make friends because she wasn't worth anything to anyone. Too weak, too needy. She thought nobody liked her because she wasn't powerful enough to be worth liking. We have since disproved that hypothesis."

"Yep, sorry," I sigh. "Turns out it was just your personality."

Malrosa jolts with surprise and I immediately tense up in fear, expecting to regret those words. What am I doing!? I was just thinking about how there's no good reason to be rude!

"I see we're not the only ones who've changed!" Malrosa laughs. "I didn't know you had that sort of sass on you! If you're not careful you might even say a swear!"

I pointedly look at the ground, my awful invisible blushing reflex flooding my face with warmth. Why do I have to be clinging onto the one person who can actually detect when I'm doing that?

"...I actually said the F-word once," I admit quietly.

Malrosa gasps in apparent shock, putting her two free hands on either side of her face.

"How scandalous!"

"I knooow," I whine. "Please don't talk to people about it. I feel so bad."

"Your secret is safe with me," Malrosa promises solemnly.

The trip is a little more comfortable after that, for whatever reason. We stop at a few random places in Baldone for Princess to stick her tentacles into people and replace their soul tumors with different, less evil soul tumors before we move on. It's dark by the time we get back across the Chasm of Disdain and into our little corner of the forest, which is particularly frustrating to me because it means most of the people I've been looking forward to seeing again are asleep. It'll be a while before I can actually talk with anyone.

Tired of suppressing my raging instincts to take a bite out of the person keeping me in the air, I take the liberty of squirming out of her grip once we're above the town, free-falling the whole way down. I land in a crouch, my legs absorbing the impact easily. I guess I'm finally home, and weirdly enough this place is home to me. Now what should I do…?

Well. I suppose the obvious answer is to check my webbing around the perimeter. It's been too long since I was here, so I'm worried about it. Fixing everything up should keep me busy the rest of the night, as much as I don't really want to do it. I've been doing a lot of things I don't want to do lately, though. I'll be fine.

I don't know where the others go. Jelisa has almost certainly gone home to sleep. Vita is probably doing the same, I've seen her sleep before. Lady Vesuvius, however, I'm pretty sure doesn't sleep at all, same as me, so who knows where she flew off to.

It doesn't matter, I guess. I run to the edge of town and settle into a comfortable rhythm repairing my webs, checking up on the many delicious smells wafting from the occasional still-living monsters trapped within. As much as the ever-present part of me wants to eat them, however, I refuse it. Every meal I've ever consumed, be they in my capacity as savior or sinner, has been a sacrifice to a dark god that I cannot help but hate. The truth behind my fate is that I exist to feed the very evil which conceived me, and my only possible form of defiance is starvation. I know that, eventually, I will have to eat or else my instincts will make me. Indulgence, however, is no longer an option. Before, I avoided food that would change my body. Now, that's the only kind of food I can justifiably consider. Of course, none of the monsters caught in my webs seem strong enough to be a worthy meal.

At least the dark only lasts a little over six hours tonight. I could torpor to pass the time, but I'm restless and it feels wasteful. Doing all this repair work doesn't make me feel any better, but at least I'm doing something. Unlike the entire trip to Baldone I invited myself on in the first place, unlike the fight with Ars or his splices which Vita and Penelope took care of on their own. The feeling of worthlessness remains through the rest of the night, settling in as a deep pit in my belly well after the island overhead finishes its pass and I wander back into town to greet my soon-to-be-waking friends. I feel so restless. I need to do something, to help someone.

"Oh, um, hey Lark? I could use your help."

I blink with surprise, looking up at Vita—or maybe Malrosa, I guess—floating above my head. I've been so caught up in my own thoughts I didn't even notice her approaching, which is a bit weird for me. Her timing and specific request is also a bit weird. What could she possibly want from me?

"Well, uh, Penelope and I are going to seed Cassia with the fix to Ars' talent, but I doubt she's going to be happy to see either of us, and the two of you really seemed to hit it off when you met? So I was hoping you could help us convince her not to attack us and junk."

I squint at her. Why me? The first thing Cassia did when she met me was try to choke me out.

"...Please?" Vita says quietly.

Hmm. Well. I guess if she's being polite I don't really have a reason to say no. I nod and she lands next to me, leading the way to our destination. Which is totally unnecessary, since I know where we're going. …Aaaand the moment I think that she slows down, walking in step beside me. Okay, I think I see what's going on here. I just don't know why.

"...Aren't there better people you could have asked to help you with this?" I prod her. "Cassia and I have only met once, she was drunk for nearly all of it, and that was before I abandoned my position as a Templar. I really doubt I'm going to be able to do much."

"You'll do better than me," Vita shrugs.

I mean. That's probably true. Low bar, though.

"Princess, are you asking me because you noticed me thinking about not having anything useful to do?"

She fidgets awkwardly.

"...Maybe," she confirms.

"Xena taught me what 'patronize' means, you know," I grumble.

"Sorry," Vita mutters. "I just… sorry. Look, I'd still prefer that you come, okay? We're taking her back to Skyhope after we fix her, and I'm hoping you'll join us for that, too? We can visit Harvey!"

"Are they even going to let us into Skyhope?" I ask.

"I mean, maybe not on purpose," Vita shrugs. "But hopefully we'll be able to work something out, since we have the cure to the whole soul plague thing. It would be way easier if we had the cooperation of the current authorities."

It sounded like she had to force that last sentence out rather reluctantly.

"You've never really had a lot of respect for authority, huh?" I ask.

"Nnnnnope," she confirms. "Growing up getting abused by them tends to do that."

"And yet you're a princess, Princess."

She's quiet for a moment.

"...Yeah, I don't really know how I ever thought that wasn't a contradiction," she admits. "Being multiple people sure is a thing. Jelisa is right, though. I have time now. I'm not being hounded, I'm not being attacked. I can sit down and figure myself out before I try fixing the island. If, of course, things go well with Skyhope."

I thrum my quills, considering that.

"All of this makes sense except for the bit where you're reaching out to me, specifically," I conclude. "I genuinely don't think I'd do much good here."

"You're a weirdo inhuman monster who eats souls and yet still has a good reputation among Templars," Vita counters. "Someone to help us animancers and non-humans bridge the gap is exactly what we need. An example of cooperation."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I doubt I'm actually that important or useful as a symbol. It's not as though most Templars actually liked me.

"Also," Vita quickly continues, "didn't you want to make sure to keep an eye on me? If I'm going, it'd really help to have an extra voice of reason, especially one that has proven she can kill me."

"...I seriously doubt I'm still capable of killing you," I answer. "I cheap-shotted you with a trick that won't work twice, and you've gotten way stronger since then. You'd absolutely destroy me."

"Well sure, but they don't know that. Humans are terrible at judging that kind of thing, even the ones that can sense relative strength."

"Weren't you human like, a few months ago?"

She turns her head, staring intently at me. I can't read her face, but if anything the expressionless nature of her gaze just adds more to her next words.

"No. I've never truly been human."

I nod, considering that to be a pretty fair answer. Though it does bring up some questions.

"By that same token, are you an Athanatos?"

She makes a slight, startled movement, one that I suspect means she hasn't considered the question before. As such I don't interrupt her when her main response is silence, assuming that she's just busy thinking about it. We continue walking for a few minutes, almost making it to our destination before she eventually responds.

"...I am Athanatos," she concludes. "But only in part. I'm certainly more Athanatos than I am human, however. I like this body much better, for starters, but there's also just the fact that I feel Athanatos in a way that I've never felt as a human. I belong on Liriope in a way I've never belonged in Skyhope. Humans themselves have made it clear I'm not one of them. Athanatos have made it clear I'm family. And I like it that way."

"You have a human family too, though," I point out.

"Oh, sure," she agrees easily. "And I love them to bits, but I'm also pretty obviously adopted. Maybe if Ars wasn't discovered and Altrix got the chance to actually raise me, I'd consider myself human. But that didn't happen, and as much as my life was horrible I think it's probably a good thing that I didn't end up getting raised by Ars."

"Ah," I nod. "I think I sort of get it. It's not really about your actual body to you, is it?"

"Exactly!" she agrees happily. "I'm going to ditch this shell at some point, but I'll still be Athanatos. It's not about what I look like, it's about where I belong."

"And you belong with the warmongering insect people that breed my kind as weapons," I say out loud before I can stop myself.

"Better than the warmongering skinfolk that see my kind as blasphemies," she shrugs, not seeming offended.

I frown, rubbing the top of my hand with another, feeling the soft texture under my palm. The adaptation is weak, unsuited for combat. But still.

"...Skin's not so bad," I insist. "I like it."

"Well, of course you would," Vita chuckles. "You're basically human."

I gape at her, not sure how to respond. That… that's objectively untrue, obviously. I'm nothing like a human. But hearing that still, for whatever reason, sent a flicker of happiness through my chest.

…Then I remember that this is Vita, the woman who fed me my own father and slaughtered countless Templars and—while they aren't technically bad things—also took Claretta from me and revealed the nature of my species to me, both of which were horrible and traumatic experiences in their own right. If she's setting me up, it's just going to be to knock me down. So I don't answer her, remaining silent until we reach Theodora's house and Vita knocks on the door.

A tattooed, rotting woman answers. Theodora, the blueprint for my friend Margarette, has seen better days. Though she's thankfully not decomposing in a way that smells, Theodora has very much been falling apart since well before the day I met her. She's somewhat self-conscious about it, too, so I avoid bringing up the subject. The many metal-laced patterns that once ran through her skin have since been largely transferred to her bones, leaving the exposed bits of her skull artfully interwoven with orangish metal that shines whenever caught in the light.

"Lark, Vita," she greets us, nodding once. "Welcome. Penelope is already downstairs."

"How's Cassia doing?" Vita asks, and considering that she didn't correct Theodora's address I'm assuming this is actually Vita talking.

"I mean, she's understandably rather unhappy with the whole affair," Theodora shrugs. "I've already pulled out the rot Ars stuck in her and fixed that, but she doesn't trust us and isn't agreeing to let us put the cascading cure in her soul."

Well, I can hardly blame her for that. My soul apparently isn't 'fully compatible' with the Ars plague or any of its derivatives, but if it was I'd certainly be leery about letting anyone put some variation of it inside me.

"Um… about that," Vita mutters, her antennae twitching. "On the, uh, subject of fixing souls, Theodora… I figured it out. Or I guess more accurately someone else figured it out for me."

"...Figured what out?" Theodora asks suspiciously.

"How to free you," Vita explains. "I can remove your soul's compulsion to obey me. Um, if you want."

'If you want?' What kind of… actually, wait. No. This is huge. Super huge. Vita can make unbound Revenants now? My Revenant friends can be free from her constant mental influence? And she's admitting this and making it an option? That's… extremely awesome, actually!?

Theodora's barely-connected jaw opens and shuts a few times, bony fingers clenching. The holes in her lungs prevent her from inhaling, but she braces her body, shoulders rising like she's taking a huge gulp of air to steel herself.

"Do it now," she insists, "before I think of some twisted knot with which to hang my courage."

"Oooh, poetic!" Vita coos. "Don't worry, Theodora, you'll only be dead for a bit."

And just like that, Theodora's body goes limp, failing to fall to the floor thanks only to some arcane force holding her in place. Though I can't see what's going on, I can to some extent smell Vita's tendrils dance through the air in front of her chest, twisting and reshaping something in their grasp. Barely half a minute later, they recede, and Theodora's body jerks back into consciousness. She looks around, startled, seems to cast a few spells, then finally glance up at Vita, blinking owlishly with tattered eyelids.

"...I feel exactly the same," she concludes. "I still love you."

"Uh, yep, I mean, two years of being a mind slave will do that to you," Vita says hesitantly. "The main difference is just gonna be this: Theodora, flap your arms and caw like a crow."

She flinches slightly, but then her eyes go wide.

"...Oh," Theodora says. "I no longer… I see. I still want to obey you, but it's not necessary. I'm not… compelled."

"You're no longer compelled to feel the way you currently feel about me either," Vita agrees, nodding in confirmation. "So feel free to start working all the way down to hate if you want to. I'll, uh, leave that up to you. Since that is the point."

"Ooh! Ooh! Me next!"

A pitch-black figure rushes into the room, grinning a mad smile of deadly teeth.

"I'd like to hate you, Mistress Vita!" Keero the Cunning cheerfully announces.

"Okay, first of all, it's Princess Vita, don't call me that other thing," Vita snaps. "Second of all, no. Third of all, fuck you. You ate a whole city, you dick. You're mine forever."

"Oh, what's a little genocide between monsters?" Keero argues, waving her off. "It's not like I can get hungry anymore! You won't have to worry about me, Princess!"

"Shut up," Vita orders, and he does, his mouth snapping closed. "Theodora died because she was a victim to my stupidity. You died because you ate a city and I killed you very much on purpose. You don't get to beg or complain or roam around on your own. But I'll consider ending your life permanently, if that's what you prefer. You may answer."

Keero flinches away from her rage, his freakish legs drumming on the floor like a symphony of giant spiders.

"...I'd of course prefer to continue serving you," he mutters. "My apologies."

Vita just huffs out an exhausted breath, looks towards me, and motions to the basement with her head.

"Let's deal with Cassia. Then I'll finish making the rounds on my other Revenants, I guess."

"Did you already get started before this?" I ask.

"Uh, I mean, yeah. I was doing that for a good chunk of the night. Most of the Revenants you know are fixed now. Vitamin was first."

…Vitamin was first? Vitamin lives with Lyn and Rowan, who are right next door. Why'd Vita wait until just now to change Theodora?

"...So yeah, barring Norah, pretty much everyone you know who wasn't like, a serial killer when they were alive, is no longer under mental compulsions."

"Barring Norah?" I ask.

Vita shrugs.

"She, um, very firmly objected. I don't wanna do it without her permission or push her into it, but like… the concept of 'her permission' is a little suspect whenever I'm involved. So I'm not sure what to do about her."

"...I'll talk with her, I guess," I sigh.

"Thanks. Ready to see Cassia?"

"Sure, I suppose."

We head downstairs, the glowering face of a collared High Templar greeting us. Lady Vesuvius looms over her, looking rather frustrated about the whole affair.

"Cassia, the fact that I am persisting with this absurd argument at all, despite the fact that you are clearly going out of your way to be as intellectually dishonest as possible, should be more than enough evidence that I have no intention of mind controlling you. I promise, if that were an option, I would have deployed it by now."

"Alright, so you're probably going to use me to incubate a plague or something," the High Templar responds stubbornly.

"Cassia, that's not… why would I even do that?"

Okay, I can see why I was invited to this now.

"Hello, Cassia," I greet. "Sorry about all this. You've heard about the Ars soul plague thing, right?"

"Hey, kiddo. And yeah, but it sounds like a load of crock to me," Cassia sniffs.

"It really, really wasn't. We just came back from killing the guy, actually."

"Hmm," Cassia scowls. "Lark, right?"

"That's me," I confirm. "Considering what I know about how the human brain responds to alcohol, I'm somewhat impressed that you remember."

She snorts.

"I'm not some lightweight," she dismisses. "Look, you seemed like a pretty good kid. Why are you walking in alongside a pair of animancers? They get to you already?"

"I… no, they haven't," I assure her, wanting to point out that my answer would be the same either way but getting the impression that isn't the best way to handle this conversation. The best way, or at least the best way I know of, is the same as the last time I won her over.

"To answer your question," I continue, "it's probably best if we find somewhere to sit down and have a drink."

She narrows her eyes at me.

"...Not sure if you've noticed, kid, but I'm currently held captive."

"We started our first meeting with having something wrapped around my throat," I tell her plainly. "We can have our second meeting with something wrapped around yours. Come on, follow me."

I turn back to the stairwell and motion for her to follow, Vita and Penelope taking one look at each other before stepping out of our way. They brought me here to talk to her, so of course they're going to let me talk to her. It's not like she can escape with the inhibitor collar around her neck.

Cassia takes a moment to process what I've said and then barks out a laugh, following me out of her cell and back up to the ground floor. She seems surprised as she looks around, realizing for the first time that we pretty much just kept her in the basement of someone's house.

"...Weird place for a prison," she mutters.

"That's because it was a closet," I shrug. "We haven't built a prison yet, and currently we don't need one."

We step outside, into the middle of the growing city that I've come to love so much. Cassia's eyes grow even wider, soaking in the well-crafted buildings and well-planned streets, the smiling groups of people walking together in the morning light, heading towards the crackle of the communal eating areas which offer free meals to the entire town.

"You built all this in the forest?" Cassia almost whispers, the surprise obvious in her voice.

"I didn't, no, but a lot of very smart and talented people with the right combination of skills and talents certainly did," I confirm. "Are you hungry?"

"I mean, yeah, I guess so," she admits.

"Then let's go get you something to eat."

We follow the crowd, or at least what passes for a crowd here. It's nowhere near as busy as Skyhope, naturally. A lot of people greet me as we walk, and I answer them with a wave, keeping most of my attention on Cassia as her head swivels around to take in every detail she can.

"You have this many people living here, but no crime?" she asks disbelievingly.

"We have no prison," I correct. "There's some crime, but not much, and it's usually fairly minor. Only a couple hundred people live here, we just seem busy because we don't have a lot of space to work with yet. The forest is still being cleared out and held back."

Apparently this community started with maybe forty people or so, but after I joined up with Lady Vesuvius we started finding ways to contact the disenfranchised and suffering citizens of Skyhope and start smuggling them through the forest to live here. A surprisingly large number of people were interested, and things just kept on growing from there. Steady work and guaranteed meals is enough motivation for a lot of people, I guess. Of course, some people want more than that, and it's hard to really have more than a nice house and good food when we don't even have a currency yet. Everyone is treated equally in terms of general quality of life. Even Lady Vesuvius lives in the same kind of home as everyone else.

Which is not to say that there's no inequality, I suppose. Some jobs are more difficult than others. Some jobs are labor while others are managerial. Some jobs require specific skills. And some people get really angry at the idea that their skills might not be as good as someone else's, and that they consequently do not get to do the kind of work that they prefer. Overall, though, things are run fairly smoothly. I expect that the problems will only increase as our population does, however.

Thankfully, all of those problems will be the responsibility of someone who isn't me.

We make it to the public cafeteria and I manage to persuade the people in charge of running it to dip into our limited alcohol supplies for Cassia. Food is far from scarce in the forest; there are endless sources of edible plants and animals, the latter of which I collect a lot of, giving me a bit more sway. Fermenting alcohol takes a while, though, and we can't supplement any shortages of fermentable plants by just killing more monsters, not to mention that the fermentable plants we do find are often used for a lot more than just letting people get drunk. Humans, however, apparently really love getting drunk, so we ration out the alcohol in such a way as to keep it generally available while still having enough to throw a party for special occasions. Basically, it's not too difficult for me to get ahold of, though needing to put in the special request at all makes Cassia visibly embarrassed and that's probably a good sign. If she cares about imposing on us, she's more likely to care about what I have to say. I retrieve the food and drink for Cassia, find a table, and set it all down in front of her seat, dropping into the chair across from her.

"How is it?" I ask after she takes her first bite.

"Better than expected," she admits. "A bit bland, but not terrible."

"We hardly have any salt," I admit, "which a bunch of chefs have been complaining about."

"Honestly, this is probably a fairly normal amount of salt for most of the world," Cassia admits. "Skyhope is just used to having an excess of the stuff thanks to the great salt pits New Talsi was built on."

New Talsi. A dozen memories flash before my eyes at the name. It's the city where I lived with August, after all, and the city that was destroyed by Keero and Ketevan, where Vita revealed she was possessing my friend. I push the thoughts aside, focusing as best I can on the now.

"Is the area being repopulated and rebuilt yet?" I ask, feigning curiosity.

"There isn't really a city at all, anymore," Cassia admits. "But the salt mines got restarted fairly quickly. We're still not sure what created the Wight there, though. Our only real guess is 'Ars did it,' but if it's true that he was hiding out in Baldone… who's to say?"

"Not me, that's for sure," I shrug. "Well, hopefully we can trade for some of that salt in the near future. Regardless of what counts as a 'normal amount,' most of the people here are from Skyhope and they love the stuff."

She pauses at that, staring at me for a moment before taking another bite of food in silence.

"...You want to trade with Skyhope?" she asks after swallowing.

"I believe that's the current plan, yeah," I nod.

"What exactly do you plan to offer?"

"No idea, and thankfully that's not my job to figure out," I say, shrugging. "My job is mostly to keep the perimeter clear of monsters, but the crazy powerful people just kind of asked me to talk to you. What did Lady Vesuvius want?"

"The crazy dragon woman wanted to cast animancy on me," she grunts, her opinion on the matter quite clear.

"Yeah, that was probably the cure for Ars' cascading soul plague."

"...She mentioned something along those lines," Cassia admits. "Is it really true?"

"I mean, if we go back to Skyhope and start chatting with infected people about Ars, then yeah I think you're going to find that it's pretty obviously true. …Actually, maybe that's what we plan to trade? Animancy defenses? Cures for horrible soul plagues? I dunno, I'm not sure what else we have on offer."

"You want to trade the cure to Ars' soul plague… for salt." Cassia gapes disbelievingly.

"Uh, I mean, again, I'm not really the person who makes those kinds of decisions," I backpedal. "I think we're going to be offering the cure no matter what, it's just… y'know. I'm spitballing here."

Cassia stares at me some more and eventually decides to just spend a few solid seconds chugging her drink.

"You are a very weird little gal," Cassia eventually concludes. "But I'll admit, this is… not at all what I was expecting when I got kidnapped by a freaky bug lady from murder death island. What's her deal, anyway?"

"Oh, the Princess? I mean, she's half-Vita. She apparently convinced Hiverock to stop attacking us?"

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. She might try to take over the island later, but hopefully we can talk her out of it. We're already making progress."

Cassia takes another bite, chews, and swallows it.

"This is all completely fucking insane," she concludes.

"Yeah, well, you should have seen what Baldone was like," I gripe. "Ars really messed the place up. Which is why we're trying to fix everything he ruined before dying."

"Mmm. Okay," Cassia mutters. "Okay, fine. I didn't want to say it to those treasonous monsters, but… I'll play ball."

I raise an eyebrow at that.

"Am I not a treasonous monster?" I ask.

"Fuck no," Cassia smirks. "You're a drinking buddy. Sure, you look a little spooky, but I had the time of my life relaxing with you. You got me good!"

Is that a reasonable basis by which to judge a person? Mph, I'm overthinking it. I do not understand her, but I suppose I don't need to.

"Thank you, Cassia. We'll probably be heading back to Skyhope today, since the problem has the potential for an exponential spread."

"Hrm. That… might be a little tough. Your naked dragon woman is public enemy number one, you know."

I guess that makes sense.

"...We'll have to bring the Princess, then," I tell her. "The two of them are the only ones who can make the cure."

"She was your boy Melik back then, right?" Cassia asks, tapping her chin in thought. "I wonder what she was thinking. Probably coulda killed me without too much trouble when I was piss drunk."

"I really couldn't tell you," I answer. "The two of us aren't exactly friends."

Which is why I'll hopefully get to avoid this visit to Skyhope. I really just kind of want Vita to leave me alone.

Naturally, though, when Cassia finishes her breakfast and we return to talk things out with the others, I'm firmly 'volunteered' to accompany them. Lady Vesuvius, apparently, has a bunch of things she'd like me to check up on in the city, assuming Cassia can get us permission to go inside. Again, though: why me? Why do people keep asking me to do these things? I just want to protect people without having to think. This is all way too much thinking.

"Don't look so glum, Lark!" Vita says cheerfully. "Malrosa's way better at negotiating than I am. Everything will go just fine!"

…Yeah, we're doomed.