Walking amongst the ticking clocks, I followed Hands deeper into his back office.

He was walking rather calmly, oddly. He wasn't fidgeting, or glancing every which way. He seemed to be doing well, considering so many others here weren't.

"She is a rat," Hands then said.

I frowned at him. "Who?" I asked carefully.

"Hm…? Wait…" Hands paused, looking up at the sky as if to ask one of the random clocks hanging on the wall a question. He of course got no answer, and then frowned as he turned to look at me. "I have not introduced you! I am so, so sorry!" Hands then declared worriedly.

Introduced me…? "To whom?" I asked.

"Why the love of my life, of course!" Hands said as if it was obvious.

Oh…?

Wait…

"So you mean literally. She is of a rat bloodline," I said as I understood. I couldn't imagine him saying the woman he loved was a rat in the other sense.

"Yes! She has a tail! Though only half a one, having lost it years ago to a wolf!" Hands said with a huge smile.

Huh… Hopefully it wasn't actually a rat. Hands was so weird it'd not shock me if he suddenly pulled an actual rat from out of his pocket, or some cage somewhere, as to display her.

"I'm happy for you. What's her name?" I asked.

"Fittle!" he said.

Fittle…?

"I… don't know a Fittle…" I said as I hurriedly searched my memories. There were a couple dozen rodents left in the Society, and a couple rats I think, but…

"She came with the rest. Light brought her from the lands beyond. She went to Lumen, I actually would like you to take her a gift if you would be so kind, Vim!" Hands said happily, sounding like a fool in love.

Sighing softly I nodded. "Of course Hands. Make sure you give it to me before I leave, I plan to do so tomorrow morning," I said. That was only a few hours away.

"I'll get it after this, yes," Hands nodded quickly as he turned and picked up the pace.

He was no longer walking calmly as he led me to the deepest room in the office.

Hands fidgeted with the door, unlocking it with two keys not just one, and then pushed the heavy wooden thing open. It didn't make a noise as it opened, but it took him a moment to do so thanks to how heavy it was.

Following him into the room, I had to duck a little since not far from the entrance were a bunch of hanging lanterns. Unlit ones, of course, but they were low enough and many enough that I had to be careful.

"You two fell in love quickly then, did you?" I asked, making small talk as I followed Hands deeper into the storeroom.

"At first sight! She nearly tore my clothes off, and…" Hands paused, turned and blushed at me, and then coughed as he looked back ahead. "She was rather forceful," he summed it up simply.

Smirking at that, I couldn't wait to see what she looked like. His father, Eyes, had been married to a comely woman… but had somehow always been the focus of the attention of many who visited. I had never understood it, even though I knew it was simply because he had been a good man. But he had been even worse than Hands when it came to his idiosyncrasies.

Still… I was happy for the man all the same. It was time he found someone, and for it to have been a non-human only made it that much better. It had felt lately so many of our kind were finding human partners, which although I was still happy and okay with... it was also sad. Since it meant they'd not only likely give birth to human children, but would likely not live more than a century or two at best.

I was glad they were happy, but it hurt to know their candle's of life had been cut short.

"If you would, Vim," Hands stepped aside as we neared a table. A circular one made of stone.

I grabbed the table, being careful of the stuff upon it and around it, and lifted it just enough to move it. I put it a few feet away, revealing the rug that had been underneath it.

"Hm. Time for a new rug," Hands said as he bent down to pull it aside. It was so flat and ruined it had barely been needed to, as it was moved to reveal a hatch.

Hands went ahead and pulled the hatch open, revealing a subfloor. One deep enough that Hands had to get on his hands and knees to reach into, but not so deep one could justify getting down into.

He lifted a box and handed it to me. I took it, placing it on the nearby table I'd just moved, and repeated the process with the next few boxes.

Once five boxes had been retrieved Hands huffed and glanced around in the hole. "Just five, Vim?" he asked, verifying.

"For now."

He nodded as he went to close the latch. He replaced the rug, and I once again put the heavy table upon it. I made sure to place it exactly where it had been, since the rug was so worn that its position was obvious. Didn't need anyone realizing where that hatch was just because they noticed the rug had been shifted a little, revealing its spot.

"Hm… I'll have you know Vim, even if they banish you from these halls you are not and never will be banished from mine," Hands then said as he brushed his hands off.

Frowning a little, I nodded. "Thank you Hands. But I don't believe I'm to be banished… and like I told you, I plan to simply step down as protector. I'll still be a member, I'll still be here to help any and all who need me," I said.

"Please Vim! You need not baby me, I am now almost as old as my father had been you know? Just two years, one month, and sixteen days away!" Hands told me.

Shifting a little, I placed a hand on one of the boxes and nodded at the odd man. "Are you really?" I asked.

I believed him. Utterly. But it was still fascinating to hear so.

"Yes! Yes, yes! So you need not hide the truth from me as so many others are! I know Randle would not have done what he did for no good reason! I… can't imagine the real reason, but it has to be one much dire! In fact, I've even begun to sort and shift things away just in case and…" Hands glanced around, as if suddenly worried someone else was here to hear him. There wasn't, it was just us… and we were deep in his section of the Cathedral.

"Shift things where?" I asked as I glanced around. This, like most probably most storerooms of his, was cluttered and full of junk. If anything had been, or was missing, I couldn't notice.

"Underground! To a half-way point between here and the nearby lake escape we made with my father!" Hands said happily.

I blinked, and shifted a little.

Escape…?

"Hands… what do you think is going to happen…?" I asked softly, now suddenly very worried.

"Hm…? If you and Light argue, you will not harm her. She is Celine's daughter, and the rightful ruler of the Society. You, being the man you are, will let her be. You'll step aside, thanks to your honor and rules. Even if wrong to do so. That's why you're stepping down as the protector, isn't it? If so, then I'll not want to be here. My knowledge of science and math alone will make them wary of me, and whose to know what they'd do if they saw any of the prophetic paintings or maps!" Hands said quickly, his voice increasing as he began to panic.

I flinched.

Right.

Damn.

Damn it. I've been neglecting others here because I've been so busy and bothered. I've allowed Randle and Renn to distract me.

Of course Hands was smart enough to fully realize what was going on. Even beyond Renn, it seemed. His mind worked in that way, like his father's. They were so damned annoyingly astute where it counted…

Plus he was right of course. They'd likely not actually harm him, or banish him, since he was so useful. Especially if I stepped down and wasn't able to be used for certain things, such as building temples and stuff. But there was no denying if Light saw some of the stuff he hid from them all, even me, there would be undoubtedly an issue. To what length and how dramatic, I couldn't tell, but something told me it would be bad.

"Wait… what of your love, then, Hands? Fittle?" I asked, doing my best to not feel too much like a piece of shit.

Hands went still.

"Oh no!" He immediately went bug-eyed as he panicked.

Shoot.

Reaching out for the man who fell to his knees, I watched as he grabbed at his head and began to mumble incoherently to himself.

Damned! He and his father both! Insanity came in so many flavors and the type they had was the one I hated to deal with the most!

"Hands!" I shouted the man's name as I grabbed him by the shoulder. He startled, blinking wildly at me as he did… and once I saw clarity behind the blinks, I nodded. "Calm. Calm yourself. Your father stole his wife from a monarch's cult, remember? You need not panic so, you are simply following his footsteps," I said gently.

Hands made one last, heavy, blink… and then slowly nodded. "Right…! Right!" he smiled as he quickly stood up, nodding quickly as he realized I was right indeed.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I praised myself for my quick footed thoughts there. Otherwise he may have been broken for weeks.

The raccoon breathed deeply for a moment as he visibly relaxed, shoulders slumping as if now needing a drink. A heavy one.

Me too.

"You're quite right, Vim… I had not thought of that. What to do… I wonder?" Hands whispered as he reached up to rub his eyes.

Hm. I nodded carefully and chose my next words carefully.

"Take it one step at a time. Talk with her about it. Your mother gave up her people for your father, it might be you who has to do it this time," I said gently.

"Quite so… why had I not realized it sooner, Vim? She's of their cloth. Going against them would be to go against her… and siding with her would be to go against my own blood and…"

"Careful Hands. Your father knew better than to delve too deep into those kinds of thoughts, and he was wise to do so," I said, warning him.

Hands nodded. "Right… is that how you do it Vim? By ignoring it, at least in part?" he asked.

"Something like that," I admitted.

He sighed and wiped his brow, though I saw no sweat upon it. "This will take some getting used to."

"Love always does."

He smiled at that. "Then… I should write a letter, too. Not just send a gift. Would you give me an hour or two to write it, Vim?" he asked.

"Of course I would, Hands. I'll take these and handle them then, while you do so. Just bring it to the mansio… or will you need help with the gift?" I asked.

"Ah, no. It is a small thing. I'll bring them both once I'm finished. A few hours, at most," Hands said as he stepped away, leaving me behind as he quickly left the storeroom.

Frowning a little, I sighed as I went to gather up the boxes. They weren't that big, and flat topped, so easy for me to stack the five with ease and carry them.

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Closing the door to the storeroom, since Hands had ran off already, I hoped he remembered to come back and lock it. I'll remind him to do so when he came to bring me the letter and gift for his newfound love.

Walking through the hallway of clocks, I eventually passed one of the first doors in the hallway. It was open, and Hands was sitting at a desk hurriedly moving papers and gathering up his writing pen. He, like usual when fixated, didn't notice or even acknowledge me as I stepped away and left his office.

I didn't walk quickly through the church as I headed for the mansio, but I wished I had. Mapple noticed me and hurried over before I could reach it.

"Mapple," I greeted her as she skidded to a stop in front of me.

"Vim!" she shouted at me, and flinched as she then looked around us. Once she realized we were alone, thankfully, she calmed a little and nodded back at me. "I'm glad I caught you before you left," she said with a hushed voice.

"Hm. Want to talk in private? I was heading to the mansio," I offered.

"Oh… um… will anyone else be there?" she asked.

"Renn could be. She went to say goodbye to those she could since we leave in the morning, but it's been a few hours since I've seen her," I said.

"Ah. She'd be okay, I guess… wait no!" Mapple flinched again and shook her head, making me frown at her.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I honestly had expected her, or someone like her, to approach and be weird before I left. Since telling the Chronicler that I'd decided to step down I hadn't talked to her, or any of her flock really. So I had been expecting this, in a way.

"You're going to Lumen?" she asked quickly.

I nodded. "Yes."

Mapple worriedly frowned up at me, and I wondered what was wrong. "Out with it Mapple," I said with a sigh. The boxes I held were heavy, not to me, but I wanted to pretend like they were. It was too bad she was one of the members that I'd not be able to fool in such a way.

"Geh…! I can't just say it Vim, you'll yell at me!" Mapple said with a strained voice.

Oh.

"Then yeah… don't say it," I said.

I was in no mood for prophecies.

"But!" she shook her hands at me, as if she wanted to grab at me. But the stack of boxes I held kind of impeded such a thing. She wasn't sure what to do.

"No buts. Per my agreement with Celine the only time prophecies are allowed to be spoken of to me are when they dictate immediate death to one of our members. Such as in the next few moments. Is it one of those?" I asked.

Mapple made a weird groan as she winced up at me.

"Let me guess… you made the Chronicler tell you about whatever it was that made Light come back," I said.

Her eyes widened as she nodded, but said nothing.

Knew it.

I sighed and wondered if I should…

No. I'll let Renn do it later. With Light. The source.

No point her getting second-hand information.

"Vim…" Mapple got my attention, since I had looked away. I looked back at her, over the boxes, and noted the utter worry and stress upon her.

"Don't worry Mapple. I'm… angry. Upset. Bothered. But I don't expect this to end too badly," I said.

"That's not what I'm worried about!" she then said.

Oh?

That wasn't good.

Maybe I should have her talk to Renn then. "Why not talk to Renn, Mapple and," I started to say but Mapple startled. She stepped back, stepping onto her church robe in the process. She stumbled backward, nearly falling onto her ass, and then quickly stood back up as to shake her head violently at me.

"Definitely not!" she screamed.

Glad that I was holding the boxes underneath, with open palms, I shifted ever so gently as I kept my cool.

Breathe. Calmly.

"I mean… Vim… I can't and… well… oh no, oh…" Mapple began to panic again, but I barely registered her muttering worries and quick breathing.

Instead I just focused on a nearby chair. A wooden chair with stone feet. It was old. Worn. Likely older than most humans, if not all of them.

It looked like it'd break if I even thought about sitting in it.

I imagined how I'd fix it. How I'd replace half the parts, and then question myself once finished if it was the same chair or not. No matter how much I made it to look like the original, if all the parts were different… then…

Blinking, I coughed and nodded, pleased with myself.

I'd not broken anything. Not the boxes I carried. Not the church around me. Not the fake nun having half a panic attack in front of me.

"Mapple," I got her attention. She stood up straight, as if a soldier being greeted by a superior officer.

"Vim?"

"Does it concern lives?" I asked calmly.

Mapple gulped. "Maybe. I don't know. I'm not smart enough to know."

That meant they hadn't told her everything. Or at least, the Chronicler hadn't.

"Does it concern the Society, or the world?"

"Both…?"

"And you can't tell Renn," I specified.

She nodded.

Great.

Just outstanding.

"If it's that momentous that it's bothering you, why didn't any of them say anything? Why didn't they warn me? Why have they kept it secret all this time?" I asked, trying not to grow upset.

Mapple shivered. "I don't know, Vim," she whispered.

For a tiny moment I thought about going back up to that fake saint's office. To lay down the law. But the sight of the head lowered, shoulder slouched, Mapple with gloomy eyes of worry made such a thought die as quickly as it had come.

These people pissed me off. But they were not my enemies. Not honestly.

They were more harm to themselves than anyone else.

This was why I hated saints. This is all they ever did. Made people panic, and act rashly. Their warnings never came on time, and most of the time were missing vital information. Half the time their stupid prophecies did more harm than good, if not most of the time.

Non-humans and humans alike were stupid sometimes. Being so terribly blinded by their emotions and faith. And they wondered why they had all been so easily enslaved.

Like Randle. The stupid fool got himself banished when he had been needed here. Especially now with the chaos, him being a pillar of normalcy and decency would have been a saving grace for us. Yet he went and did something stupid. How had he not realized that with them moving themselves to Lumen would have left Telmik open for him to take over? To make this place his own? Though one could argue he only acted out of line thanks to those who were doing the same thanks to the prophecies...

All of the threads of discord went back to the damned gods. Again. Like always.

Stop, Vim.

I took a small breath as I forcefully stopped thinking about certain things, as to prevent me from doing something stupid myself.

You have no right to judge and criticize when you didn't do anything to even hint or help such a thing to not happen. You stood back and allowed it to happen. You were as bad as the agitators.

That was what my mother would have said. One who stands back and just watches a sin happen was worse than the sinner themselves.

Yet whenever I intervened it just got worse. One sin became thousands. I stand back; one or two people die or get hurt. I step in, nations disappear.

What should I do here…? Now? Should I ask to hear the prophecy? Even though it'll likely make me do terrible things? What if it causes me to destroy the very society I've been protecting all this time?

What if it risked my relationship with Rennalee…?

"What do you think, Mapple?" I asked, unable to confront anything in my mind and so instead asking someone so much weaker than me.

"Of…?"

"Everything," I whispered.

She stopped shivering, and then smiled at me. "That's been my life since mother died, Vim. I've been obeying them all this time, hating every order. I hadn't realized all this time you'd been the same," she said warmly, blushing even at me.

Uh oh. Was this where her strange fascination came from, then? Somehow that made a lot of sense.

Just another thing to feel like shit about.

"But…!" Mapple spoke up before I could, and her smile softened a little. "I'm… not you, Vim. I only have myself. I have no family. No husband. No children. I... don't even have friends," Mapple said as she gestured around us. As if to imply the empty hallway we stood in represented her own persona.

I see.

She was telling me why she had to side with them.

Against me.

Because she had nothing else. No one else. Without them, she felt empty. Useless. Devoid.

I knew that feeling. Better than she, likely.

"I'm your friend, Mapple," I said gently.

She hesitated, but then smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Vim. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You have indeed always been kind with me, even understandingly too," she said.

Hm… "Renn would be your friend too, if you gave her the chance," I added.

Mapple hesitated again. "I… bet she would, yes," she said softly.

Uh oh. That hesitation was not because she didn't believe me, or think it impossible, but for another reason.

Something told her such a thing would never happen. No matter what.

Another hint. One I didn't want to see or know. Let alone acknowledge.

"What can I do for you, Mapple?" I asked softly.

She blinked, glanced around a moment… and then slowly looked back at me. "If I asked for a child would you give one to me?"

"No. I can't give you that," I whispered.

Luckily Mapple's heartbreak didn't make her fall to her knees, or weep. She instead just smiled… and nodded as if understandingly. "I figured. You're not a man to betray, Vim… so I figured you'd not betray her," she said softly.

Although that wasn't quite the reason, I still nodded anyway. Better she think so because of that than anything else.

How pitiable. She was just like so many others in the Society. She was in fact the epitome of what Renn wanted to save, to help. She was, at least felt, alone… and was serving masters she didn't like or feel love towards nor from in return. She was basically a slave. To debts. To the past. To a parental love that hadn't been real at all in the first place.

But… how did I save her from it…? And… did she even want to be saved from it in the first place? It seemed likely not based off what she had just said.

"Instead… hm… I've been told you're going to make a village. Or something like it. How about you let me have a home there too?" she then asked.

I blinked and stood up a little straighter. "I'm going to make a village?" I asked.

There was no way anyone should have heard of such a thing. Plus… a village? That was not the plan at all. An orphanage, at best a church, not a whole village. And it wasn't going to be mine. It was Randle's. Angie's too, I guess.

But... the way she had phrased it... That meant she hadn't heard it from Renn, Angie, or Randle, but someone else. Someone who had seen something, and not really understood what they had.

Another prophecy…?

Mapple hesitated, and then coughed. "Um! Well…!" she began to really panic, her shivering returning in full force.

Shit. That was indeed a prophecy, then.

"Fine. Please… don't say anything more," I begged as I lowered my head and tried to not look at her. It wasn't what she said that told me the truth, it was her mannerisms. So I simply needed to stop looking at them.

Mapple made a groaning noise, and I heard her nod. "Right…! Okay! Yeah! I'm so sorry, Vim… I'm just… a mess right now, and you just turned me down so I feel like I need to cry and…!" she began to ramble, and with each word she spoke I felt more and more like shit.

By my parents, let this end soon.

"Anything else, then Mapple? Before we both have to go dig holes to hide in for a century?" I asked, pleaded in fact.

She laughed at that. "Right! No. Okay. Just… let me have a place please, no matter what happens. That's all," she said quickly, confirming it.

"Always. Even if I'm on longer protector, Mapple, like I said… I'll always help those who ask it of me. Always. You need only ask," I said.

"Mhm… right. Just no kids, though."

"No kids," I said softly with a smile.

She sighed but nodded. I looked back up at her and found her already crying. Tears were sliding down her face. "Okay. Goodbye Vim. I hope… you and Renn stand tall," she said softly as she nodded again at me.

"I'd say the same, Mapple… but you've always stood tall. Though who you do so for may be questionable, I've always found your filial loyalty lovely," I said gently.

Mapple's eyes widened a little, leaking more tears, and then she sniffed and nodded… and hurriedly turned away as her face scrunched up. She ran off, hurriedly, barely not tripping over her robe as she did so.

Feeling utterly exhausted, I shook my head and turned back to my goal and destination.

What was I doing? What was going to do?

I had so many people around me who needed help. But I felt like all I was doing was making their lives worse. I was such a failure of a protector.

Randle just lost everything. His arm was the least of his losses.

Angie had just lost her family. Her home. And had clung to the orphanages, and the orphans, as her way of keeping sane and finding purpose. And now she felt it was all at risk. In danger. And she hadn't even thought I would have helped her originally, it had taken Renn to get the girl to bring it up to me.

Hands. Falling for a woman a part of the very church he might be at odds with soon. Because he, like his father and mother, had chosen my side instinctively even though they shouldn't have. Just like Oplar's parents.

Oplar in the same vein was in danger too.

Meriah was on a blood-path.

Rapti thought I was some god, and was expecting me to act like one. Crane wanted me to pay for my crimes.

Tor wanted to eat a heart that I did not believe he could survive.

Lilly and Windle were getting letters from dozens of people in the Society, calling damn near for war.

People were filing formal requests to be taken off my route. Because they didn't trust me anymore.

Even Light. That woman, as much as she infuriated me with what she was doing… was Celine's daughter. I had made a promise. To save her. To find her. To protect her, even over and above the Society itself.

Then there were the untold numbers scattered all over, who would have their own concern and tribulations during all of this. This… upheaval.

And now Mapple. Someone I've always pitied, but never worried much over.

The souls just kept piling up… and I felt too weak to even address any of them, let alone actually do what it took to save them.

I shifted the heavy burdens I carried. The coins within were my gift to Randle. More wealth than the Nation of the Blind made in a year in taxes and tithes.

A paltry apology for all my failures. But they were a start. Before I officially stepped down I planned to pay what I considered debts. And I owed Randle a heavy one, far more than his arm's weight in gold. And man should always pay his debts. One coin at a time, as they merchants say.

Approaching the gate to the mansio, I smiled in relief at the sight of smoke coming from the kitchens chimney. It had been empty and cold when I had left it earlier.

Renn and I were the only ones staying in it currently, so I knew it was her.

Thank goodness.

I felt like burying my face into her hair and ears, and just holding her.

Hopefully she'd oblige me without demanding anything too drastic in return.

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