Lewd searched the gathering mist for the owner of the voice.
There was no one between the trees. No footprints disturbed the damp ground. No branches moved beneath an unseen hand.
Even Phantasm could not find its source.
Then Shella's voice returned, slipping into the world from somewhere outside it.
"As our mouse girl continues searching, I'm going to shift the story back to Vemi's mother."
The forest seemed to turn a page.
Miles away, Lenora's ears snapped upright.
Crysha drew her ice katana at almost the same moment Lenora raised her blade. Neither woman knew where the voice had come from, but both reacted as though its owner might already be standing beside them.
"Who's talking?" they demanded together.
Cold rolled from Crysha's body. Frost formed beneath her boots, and every breath left her mouth as a pale cloud. Lenora remained beside her, blade ready and ears turning independently as she searched the forest.
Nothing answered.
Yet beneath the silence, that distorted piano continued to play.
Its broken notes sounded louder than before—near enough to press against their bones, yet still impossibly far away. The melody drifted through the trees without coming from any particular direction.
It carried panic inside it.
Not ordinary fear.
Something trapped. Something twisted. Something unable to reach them no matter how loudly it played.
Lenora lowered her blade slightly.
Her ears turned toward it, both at once.
"Crysha."
"I hear it."
"No." Lenora's voice had changed. "Listen to it."
Crysha went still.
The notes came again — warped, dragging, half a beat behind themselves, as though the instrument were being played by someone whose hands would not do what they were told.
"That isn't a threat," Lenora said quietly. "That's someone calling for help."
Crysha's grip on her katana did not loosen.
"Or something that has learned what calling for help sounds like."
Neither of them had an answer for that, so the piano went on playing without one.
Mia and Sphinx approached without appearing nearly as concerned.
The magical speaking artifact Mia had purchased from Derrpy and Slurry's Emporium glowed near her throat as she stopped in front of Lenora.
"Lenora, the harlot who stole my master, may I ask you a question?"
One of Lenora's ears twitched.
Even with an invisible narrator speaking over them and a distorted piano echoing through the forest, Mia had apparently decided this was the proper time to discuss Derpy.
"Great Beast Mia," Lenora answered carefully, "you may ask me a question. But may I ask one in return?"
Before Mia could respond, Sphinx stepped forward.
His small body expanded. Stone-dense muscle formed beneath his fur as enormous wings unfolded from his back. Within seconds, the little cat had become the towering Behemoth.
He positioned himself between the women and the forest. His burning eyes watched the fog as his own speaking artifact glowed.
"Ladies, sit," Sphinx instructed. "I will stand guard."
Crysha and Lenora exchanged a look.
Neither appreciated being ordered around by a cat.
Neither could deny that Sphinx's instincts had detected dangers before theirs had.
They sat.
The moment their weapons touched the ground, Mia inhaled.
A wave of hot, toxic breath poured from her mouth and washed over both blades. Lenora's weapon hissed. Crysha's katana released a cloud of steam as poisonous heat settled over its frozen surface.
The fumes clung to the hilts, making both weapons impossible to touch without burning or poisoning the hands that reached for them.
Crysha stared at Mia.
"Monster, what are you—"
She stopped.
The word was already out. She heard it arrive somewhere in the fog and understood exactly where it had landed.
Two nights ago she had knelt in the dirt with the ends of her ears touching the ground and promised not to say it.
"…What are you doing," she finished quietly.
Mia transformed.
She rose onto two legs, assuming the smaller humanoid shape she had taken before, although her jester mask did not appear. She stood between Crysha and Lenora, still small enough to look harmless.
She did not feel harmless.
Mia looked directly at Crysha.
"Yet I am a monster, and you still expect a ride from me and my brother?"
Crysha opened her mouth.
No answer came.
Mia waited another moment before turning away from her.
"Lenora, I have a question."
"Ask it," Lenora said. "Then I may ask mine."
Mia nodded.
"Do you remember when you, Derpy, and Vespera came to Whisperfen?"
"I do." Lenora lowered her hands into her lap, although her body remained tense. "I made a contract with Derpy. I promised to teach him how to wield weapons and to serve as his teacher."
Mia glared at her.
"And how has that been going?"
Lenora's ears slowly drooped.
"Not well," she admitted. "He was being held in the White Tiger Kingdom, and I am sitting here."
Mia allowed that answer to remain between them.
"This town," she continued. "Do you remember what Lewd did here?"
Lenora turned pale.
Then red.
"She gave Derpy flowers outside the hotel where she was staying."
Mia yawned.
"Yes. That is also correct."
Her tone made it clear that the flowers were not the answer she wanted.
"Do you remember when Master brought her to the group?" Mia asked. "She could barely look him in the face. Do you remember why?"
Lenora's embarrassment disappeared.
"The back of her clothing had been torn almost completely away," she answered quietly. "There was barely anything left. Derpy used part of our travelling funds to buy her the simple white dress she still wears."
Mia nodded.
"And when you were in the Elven Empire, she told you more."
"She did," Lenora said before Mia could finish. "Lewd lost her boyfriend, her job, and her home."
This time, Mia did not yawn.
She stepped closer.
"Then why would she want to return to a town where she supposedly has a caretaker?"
Lenora's ears lifted slightly.
Mia's voice remained calm.
"Why was she on the verge of eating from the garbage if someone here was taking care of her?"
Lenora did not have an answer.
She remembered every part of Lewd's story. She remembered the flowers, the bullies, the torn clothing, the lost job, and the home Lewd no longer possessed.
But she had never placed those memories beside the word caretaker.
Mia watched the realization settle over her.
Lenora was already moving.
"Then I'm going after her."
Her hand shot toward her blade and stopped short of the steam still curling off the hilt. She pulled it back, looked at the poisoned weapon, and understood that Mia had done that first for a reason.
"You planned this."
"I did."
"She's alone out there."
"She is." Mia did not soften. "And you would slow us down. My brother covers ground in a night that would take your legs three days, and if that thing is already inside Whisperfen, I would rather arrive without carrying anyone."
Lenora's ears flattened.
"I am only making certain that you know and remember," Mia explained. "I do not know what Lewd is doing right now, but Master ordered us to protect her."
She paused.
"Remember that she has been through a lot. That does not mean you have not suffered too."
Lenora looked at her.
For one brief moment, the severity left Mia's face. She was not blaming Lenora for what had happened to Lewd. She was making sure Lenora understood what might be waiting for them inside Whisperfen.
Then Mia turned toward Crysha.
The softness vanished.
"I do not know what game you are playing, Ice Queen. Master did not order us to protect you. If I ever have to fight you, I will not have to hold back."
Crysha's eyes narrowed.
"Mia—"
"But I can see that Lewd is trying her best," Mia continued, speaking over her. "She wants to become stronger because she wants to be near Master. She shows her emotions openly, but her scent tells me other things."
Lenora's cheeks grew warm.
Mia's animal senses could detect things Lewd would never willingly confess. The fear beneath her determination. The shame hidden behind her affection. The feelings she tried to bury whenever Derpy's name was spoken.
"But you and Lenora need to catch up," Mia concluded. "My brother and I are going to find Lewd."
She dropped onto all fours.
Her small body began expanding into the enormous Cerberus. Three heads rose through the mist while waves of heat rolled from her paws. Sphinx lowered his Behemoth body beside her, preparing to run.
"Wait," Lenora called.
Both beasts stopped.
Mia's three heads turned toward her.
"What about my question?" Lenora asked.
Mia shifted back into her smaller upright form.
"You may ask."
Lenora's ears became red.
She looked away from Crysha before forcing herself to speak.
"What does your master think of me?"
Silence followed.
Even the distorted piano seemed to soften.
Mia stared at Lenora. Sphinx looked away and returned his attention to the forest, either granting Lenora privacy or pretending not to listen.
Mia's speaking artifact glowed again.
"When we first fell into this world because Celica dragged Master here, he landed on you."
Lenora's face warmed further.
"He did," she whispered.
"He was not sure whether he was awake or dreaming," Mia continued. "You were a very beautiful woman, and he did not know how to act. So he fled from you."
Mia began speaking faster.
"And you gave chase. Then his powers started flaring, and one of his first weapons formed—Frost Burn. You began training him, and his heart fluttered a little. Then the dragon girl made a contract with him, and you kissed him afterward."
Crysha slowly turned her head toward Lenora.
Lenora did not look at her.
She looked at her own hands instead, and at the ribbon tied around her wrist, and she made herself say it out loud in front of her aunt rather than let it sit there being said about her.
"I did kiss him."
The frost around Crysha's boots creaked.
"He had just given away something he needed to keep a stranger alive," Lenora continued. "He didn't even understand what he'd done. He just did it." Her jaw tightened. "So yes. I kissed him. You can put that in whatever report you're carrying home."
Crysha said nothing at all.
"After that, Master wanted to protect you," Mia continued, as though neither of them had spoken. "But do not take this the wrong way—you have competition."
Lenora's ears lowered slightly.
"There are two women from his original world who took a long time to earn his trust," Mia explained. "They already mean something to him."
"And Lewd?"
"He sort of likes Lewd too."
Lenora's ears lowered further.
Mia tilted her head.
"But you asked what he thinks of you."
She waited until Lenora looked up.
"He thinks you are beautiful. He trusts you. He enjoys learning from you. He wants to protect you, even when protecting you means running away."
Lenora's entire face burned.
She tried to hide it by turning toward the forest, but her crimson ears made the effort useless.
Mia transformed back into the towering Cerberus.
"I have given you my answer. Sphinx and I are going to find Lewd."
The two beasts dashed forward.
The ground trembbled beneath them. Trees bent in their wake, and within moments, they vanished in the direction Lewd had taken.
Then the silence began.
Not a comfortable silence.
Not a short one.
Lenora and Crysha remained seated across from each other while poisonous steam curled from their abandoned weapons. Crysha occasionally glanced at Lenora. Lenora pretended not to notice.
Five minutes passed.
Lenora's ears remained red.
Ten minutes passed.
Neither woman spoke.
Fifteen minutes passed.
The distorted piano drifted between the trees again, loud enough to hear but still too distant to follow.
Twenty full minutes passed before Lenora finally surrendered.
"So, Auntie…"
Crysha looked at her.
"Are you seriously taking me back home?"
There was a small pause.
"That depends."
Lenora frowned. "On what?"
"You have only ever given me pieces," Crysha said. "The guild. Garrett—the human you travelled with. The fallen kingdoms. The lives you took whenever your own life was threatened."
The cold surrounding her settled, but it did not completely disappear.
"I have heard what everyone else believes happened. I want to hear what happened from your perspective."
Crysha reached inside her cloak and removed a small bottle she had obtained from Derrpy and Slurry's Emporium.
She pulled out the stopper.
A strange fragrance escaped.
The scented vapor curled through the space between them, carrying the quiet sensation of something old being invited back into the present.
Crysha placed the open bottle on the ground.
"Tell me your story, Lenora."
Lenora's ears lowered.
"All of it?"
"Start at the beginning."
Crysha's blue eyes remained fixed on her.
"Tell me about the night you left Carrot Field."