I was now glad for the scarf that Vim had made me.

The wind was blowing roughly, and on that wind was not just snow but ice. It actually hurt a little, so I kept my head lowered and angled downward as to keep the stuff from hitting what little bit of my face was revealed to the world.

Although wearing my new set of clothes and leather made a few days ago, it wasn't as heavy-duty as the set from before. Vim decided to not make it as thick since soon winter would be over, and he didn't want us to stand out as much as before. This new set had less hooks and the leather was fashioned in a way that on first glance made it look like something a traveler would wear and not a mercenary.

But it still kept me warm, as did the fox wrapped around my neck and face. The hood was just as thick and heavy as the last one too, which helped… though I occasionally had to reach up to reset it. Even with it tied and latched, the wind sometimes blew strong enough to force it back behind my head.

Walking behind Vim, I followed the trail he left in the snow. It wasn't packed too heavily, only reaching our ankles, but it was fresh. Fresh enough that it flung everywhere, to the point it hid his footsteps within moments if I didn't keep pace with him.

Lilly was behind me, following close enough that if my tail hadn't been wrapped safely and warmly under my clothes and jacket she'd be able to reach out and grab it.

We'd been traveling through this storm for a few hours now, and I wasn't entirely sure where we were… but I had a strange assumption that we weren't far from that bridge that Vim and I had broken on our last trip through here.

This storm was why he had waited last time. We had let it pass before venturing these mountains. But now both the importance of our urgency, and Vim's trust in my abilities, kept us from doing such a thing again. Honestly I was a little sad that we'd not stayed at Lellip's home longer, since I had utterly enjoyed spending time with them… and getting to experience and see Lilly and the rest interacting with each other. But I understood our duty.

We needed to confront Light. And every day we lingered only made it more serious and risked greater problems.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, or even what I wanted from, confronting Light… but I hoped it ended well.

I wanted the Society to not split. I wanted Vim to remain the protector. I wanted to keep traveling around, visiting everyone.

The thought of all the newborns, all the relationships, all the people I've yet to meet and encounter made me want to weep. Hopefully I wouldn't lose access to such wonderful things. It made life so wondrous, so absolutely beautiful, to visit someone and be welcomed with a smile. To then be shown a new face, or to be asked for help… especially when it came to romance. Like Lellip wanting to go meet Branches.

It were those things I had joined the Society for. What I had wanted, and needed, all my life. To lose them now…

Then I walked into a wall.

I stumbled a bit, stepping back and away from what I'd just walked into, but I was grabbed from behind and steadied.

"Careful," Lilly said gently from behind, telling me she had been the one to steady me.

Glancing behind me, I smiled gently at the woman who had a thick cloth wrapped around her face. To the point I couldn't even see her eyes. Looking back ahead, I glared at Vim who had his back to us. Had he at least glanced back to make sure I was fine, after having walked into him?

About to grumble at him, to tease him for not being gentle with me, I stopped myself as I realized why he had stopped walking.

Stepping forward, Lilly and I joined Vim near the large crack in the world. I scanned the huge ravine, the canyon was white like I had remembered it… but I didn't see any of the remains of the bridge Vim and I had broken last time we'd been here.

In fact it wasn't the same location, I think. I didn't recognize any of the rocks or trees around here, though that might be because of the storm.

Enjoying the sight for a moment, I noticed the storm had softened a little. I glanced around with ease, and didn't flinch from the impact of cold ice. The wind had died down enough that some of the snow falling was doing so normally, and lazily. The stuff fluttered down like feathers, and not in a rage.

I watched the countless snowflakes falling into the canyon for a moment, and was glad I'd walked into Vim. Otherwise I might have just… walked right over the ledge without realizing it, since I had been lost in thought.

Though it was pretty, now that the wind wasn't that bad. Hopefully it stayed like this for a while, it was nice.

As if the world was going to be kind to us for a moment, as we faced this hurdle before us.

"So… what now? No bridge, Vim. Because of someone," I said lightly.

"Hm? She says that as if you broke it, Vim," Lilly noted.

Had we not told her? "Because he had? He broke it last time we came through here," I said.

Lilly sighed. "Of course he did."

Vim gestured at the huge canyon before us. "This isn't even where the bridge was. That's farther north of us," he said.

"So… what are we going to do then?" I asked, ignoring his lame attempt at avoiding responsibility.

"Hm? Vim can just leap across, can't he?" Lilly asked.

I tilted my head at her, a little shocked to realize she was right.

He could. Very likely.

"What about us though…? I can't jump that far. Are you saying you can, Lilly?" I asked. It was a huge gap, if it was flat open space it'd take me hundreds of steps to get across it.

"Huh…?" Lilly turned to look at me, sounding odd as if I'd just said something stupid.

"She means this. Don't bite your tongue, Renn," Vim said as he then reached over and grabbed me.

A little startled as I was picked up, I shifted a bit as I felt Vim's strong arms firmly grab me. He held me as if I was an injured person, in a cradle in his arms, and then he stepped back a few steps… away from the canyon.

"Wait…!" I felt my heart flutter as I realized what was about to happen.

"Don't bite your tongue," he said again, and I clenched my teeth even though I wanted to shout at him… as he then rushed forward and jumped.

The harsh wind returned, and I winced and closed my eyes as cold air and freezing snow rushed past and slapped into me. I felt weightless for a moment, as if I'd just been thrown, and then a few heartbeats later… we landed.

My whole body jolted as Vim landed, and I heard and felt his feet skid in both snow and ice, then we came to a stop.

Blinking wildly up at the bright sky above, I found my thoughts again as Vim smiled down at me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"You… jumped," I whispered.

He nodded. "Let me go get Lilly," he said as he lowered me. My feet found steady ground, but I felt a little less so as I stepped away from him and the canyon.

"Vim…" I groaned at him as he glanced me up and down, likely to confirm I really was okay. Once he seemed sure I was he stepped away and jumped back over the gap.

I watched him with wide eyes as he flew across, and landed on the other side. He disappeared into the forest upon landing, having jumped a little away from Lilly. He emerged, said a few things to Lilly and then picked her up the same way he had done me.

Taking a few deep breaths, I wondered if I should be offended or not as I watched them leap over to my side.

Although the gap was huge, it didn't take long for Vim to go from one side to the other. If I blinked while he jumped, I'd likely miss it, as he landed a few dozen feet from me.

He skidded a bit, as he had with me, and then put Lilly down once all was well.

"Makes me miss my wings," Lilly said off-handedly as she reached up to re-adjust the cloth covering her face. It had dislodged in the jump. She then checked her bags and items on her, to make sure nothing had been lost.

I groaned at that, since it hurt to hear it. I did my best to not dwell on it as I checked my own self up and down. To make sure all my stuff was still on me.

I still had my spear. The sword, which was now sharp. My bags were all here… I still had my fox scarf…

"Everyone good?" Vim asked.

"Seems so," Lilly said.

"I'm not…!" I groaned after I finished checking my stuff.

"Hm?" they both turned, frowning at me. Or well, Vim did. I wasn't sure if Lilly was thanks to her face-covering cloth.

I pointed at the huge canyon that Vim just leapt over. "Why did you make me go through that last time, if you could just do that? We didn't have to break the bridge, then!" I shouted at him.

Vim stood up a little straighter, then turned to look at the gap… and then smiled lightly at me. "Renn, it's not as wide a divide. It's not even half as big. I hadn't been able to jump across the section we'd gone to last time. That's why we came here this time, where it's not as wide," he said.

I calmed down a little, mostly thanks to his smirk. He was amused at my outburst.

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"Isn't it…?" I asked as I stepped a little closer to the cliff. I studied the gap, the crack that separated this side of the mountain from that one.

"Can't tell…? Even with your memory?" Vim asked.

Wanting to grumble, I had no choice but to admit he was right. The bridge I had crossed, before it had broken, had definitely been longer than this section's gap was. Maybe even by twice the length.

"Never really thought about how far you can jump and how far you can't. How much farther than this could you successfully leap, Vim?" Lilly asked as she too studied the canyon.

"Not much more than this. It's why I fell into the trees just now, before getting you. I had worried if I didn't jump with that much strength I'd miss," he said.

Oh? So that had not been on purpose.

Interesting… "Still…" I grumbled, wanting to complain more… even if I knew it wasn't founded.

"Is it the fact you didn't jump with her originally, or the fact you broke the bridge that she's upset with?" Lilly asked him.

"Could be either, really," he answered.

Huffing at them, I gestured at the gap. "How far could you jump, Lilly?" I asked.

"Hm? Not far. I'm not built for that. I'm built for flying," she said simply.

Right…

"Don't even try it," Vim warned me.

"I'd not actually try…! I was just wondering. I've never really tried to jump something like this, so was just wondering if I could do it too," I said.

"Doubt it, Renn. Vim's the oddity," Lilly said.

I knew that, of course, but…

"My uncle could have," I said as I looked again at the gap.

I'd seen him do so. Or well, he had jumped something similar. From one cliff to another.

"The monarch? I've no doubt," Vim said.

"What's this…? You had a monarch for an uncle, Renn?" Lilly asked.

"Didn't I tell you? My great-uncle had been a giant cat," I said. In fact I did remember telling her about him…

"You had called him a great one, and that he was more non-human than the rest of you. That doesn't really outright tell me he had been a monarch," Lilly said simply.

Oh. Right…

I nodded. "He'd been a monarch. In fact I have his heart. Or well, it's not on me, but I have it safe somewhere," I said. I glanced at Vim as I spoke, wondering if he wanted me to tell Lilly about his little crystal home he hid away from everyone. He trusted her, far more than I or anyone else really knew or understood, but I wasn't sure just how far that trust went.

"Supposedly my family had a great owl in our ancestry too. One so big no tree was big enough for it to perch upon. Vim says otherwise, though," Lilly said with a gesture at him.

"Hm?" I glanced at Vim, wondering what that meant.

"The tree at their home, that giant one? An owl used to live there. Her ancestor. She doesn't believe me though, for some reason," Vim says.

"It had to have been bigger than that!" Lilly argued.

I smiled at her, and her strange seriousness of her comment. She didn't just believe it, she was willing to argue over it.

"Did you slay that owl, Vim?" I asked gently.

"Yes. The whole floor of the forest around that tree had been littered with human bones. Humans were its favorite meal. I couldn't let such a creature be," he said.

Oh…

Lilly seemed to perk up a little at that. "Now that I believe," she said happily.

Sighing gently at her strange pride over her ancestor's cruelty, I decided to let it be. I stepped away from the canyon's cliff. "Speaking of monarchs… You've seen many, right Lilly?" I asked her.

She tilted her head at me. "I guess…?"

I ignored Vim's look, as Lilly and I went to walk side-by-side while we headed deeper into the forest. The wind still had not picked back up, so I was going to use the opportunity to have a casual conversation while I could.

"How many were able to talk? That you know of?" I asked her.

"Talk…? Oh. As in reason? Hm…" Lilly went quiet for a moment, and I heard Vim sigh behind us. He was now walking behind us, following dutifully.

Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled gently at him. He looked bored.

"Maybe a few? Most monarchs I've seen were from a distance. As I watched Vim kill them. But yeah, at least a couple could talk for sure," Lilly said, shrugging as she did.

I hummed at that. "So most are basic creatures then. Kind of like the little one at the Cathedral," I said.

She nodded. "Think so? Why?"

"Was just wondering. As you know Witch and I had hunted a few, but only my uncle and the snake that ate my family had been able to talk. Could yours talk? Your owl?" I asked her.

"I don't know… had it been able to talk, Vim?" Lilly asked as she turned to look at him.

"Yes. It had been rather smart, actually. It had tried to reason with me," he said.

"Reason with you? How so?" Lilly asked.

"It tried to bribe me. It offered knowledge, loyalty and whatnot if I spared its life. Once it realized who I was, at least. Before then it had been very cocky and abhorrent," he said.

"Realized who you were," Lilly said with a happy laugh, as if she really enjoyed such a thing.

I though noted it for a different reason.

I've heard now, from monarchs and saints alike, that Vim was known. Elaine had said they called him the Great One.

An odd term to use, considering to me that term meant something else. My family had called monarchs Great Ones, as had Witch.

Personally I interpreted that as them simply calling Vim a monarch, since they didn't know any better. But…

"Did monarchs use to have societies, Vim? Like we do?" I asked.

Lilly slowed a bit thanks to my question, as we both turned to wait for his answer.

"An odd question, Renn. Yes. A few did. A few had built whole nations and kingdoms. Remember the egg at the Weaver's? Her husband had been a part of such a system. Non-humans and humans had been slaves to those great monarchs. Some were brutal beasts, who saw those like us as food. Others saw us the same as their creators, as servants or toys. Monarchs could be, or rather can be, as varied as we can. Some are smart. Some can even be gentle and understanding… but just as we can be cruel and evil, so too can they. My mother would say their great cruelty comes from their great strength and their births," he said.

"Your mother…?" Lilly whispered, as she came to a stop.

I paused with her as Vim walked up to us, stopping as well. We paused beneath a huge tree, as Vim gestured lightly at us. "Basically mother reasoned their brutality on their upbringing. Between their great sizes, and powers, and their belief in being higher beings… thanks to how they had come to be, they believed themselves to be destined rulers. That they belonged on top of the world, above everyone else. You see the same thing amongst our kind often, so it's believable. Look at all the non-humans we had culled Lilly, those who saw humans as play things or even our fellows as beneath them," Vim said.

I glanced at Lilly, to confirm what he was saying… but Lilly still had that cloth covering her face. She nodded though. "Yeah. I guess it makes sense?" she said.

Did it…? "You're saying power corrupts, basically," I said. I've heard such things before, and not just from him.

He nodded. "Basically."

"Your mother believed that? Really?" Lilly asked.

"I suppose. My mother had rather firm beliefs, even though she taught many perspectives. Even the ones she didn't agree with," he said.

"You talk as if she had been religious," Lilly said with a small laugh.

Vim shifted, and I immediately noticed the uncomfortable look on his face.

"She had been…?" I asked, very surprised to learn so.

"You're kidding!?" Lilly was as shocked as I was, it seemed.

Vim's eyes narrowed a bit at us. "And why is that so surprising?" he asked, as if offended.

Lilly shifted, glancing at me in a way that told me she had clearly noticed his tone. I nodded and took the brunt of it, for her. "You, Vim. You make it surprising. I'd… well, I guess we all thought it'd be otherwise. What with how much you detest religion," I said.

He sighed as he crossed his arms, looking visibly bothered. "I don't detest it. I simply don't agree with how it's used by people. If you must know my mother had been more devout than anyone. But she had not allowed her faith to blind her, like Celine and the rest," he said.

"Hm…" Lilly hummed at that, as my mind whirled.

His mother had been religious…! Yet, for as much as he hates religion… he seemed to be defending her rather fiercely! If we pushed or teased about it, I could tell he'd get actually upset. It seemed it was a touchy subject.

How fascinating. It told me so much, and made so much sense too.

He had told me how his mother had instilled in him the idea of right and wrong. The memory of those scales he had given her, held by her statue beneath the Cathedral, became more understandable too.

Vim's entire understanding of right and wrong stemmed from his mother, then. Or at least, the foundations of it all.

"What of your father?" I asked, wanting to learn more but also trying to not be too rude about it as I did.

Vim then startled, and gave me a really odd look… as he then reached up to brush off some snow that had landed on his cheek. "I… don't know," he said softly.

A little worried of the look on his face, I wondered if I should say something or not as Lilly reached over and lightly grabbed my sleeve as to get my attention.

Glancing at her, she leaned closer and whispered. "What were their names?" she asked.

"I don't know. I only knew them as mother and father," Vim answered before I could, seemingly still lost in thought.

He was likely searching his memories thoroughly, to figure out if he knew if his father had been religious or not.

I wasn't sure how he could not outright know, especially since he knew so well about his mother's beliefs. But… this was Vim we were talking about. Odds are he had simply never really thought about it before.

Lilly released my sleeve and sighed, in a way that told me she regretted asking. Odds are she'd have a slight grimace on her face, if I could see it.

"Your uh… parents. They taught you well, huh?" Lilly then asked, sounding a little rushed as she did. She was likely blaming herself for Vim's current oddness and was trying to get him over it.

"Yes. Why?" Vim asked as he glanced at her.

She shifted, and I noticed the way her hands clenched up. As if she was a child being glared at by her father, Lilly suddenly looked worried. "You once told me you had been raised to be a general. A warrior. So it was your parents who did that?" she asked.

Oh! He had told me that once too!

Vim nodded. "Yes."

"You said they wanted you to be a teacher," I said.

He smiled and nodded. "I know. To them it had been the same thing. Or well… one in the same. Odd, I know, but that's how it was."

Huh… maybe it was not that they wanted him to be both, but each had their own wants for him. Maybe his mother had wanted him to be a teacher, and his father a general and they had simply agreed to raise him to be both…?

Or maybe to them, their society back then, a general was a teacher and vice-versa? It had been a long time ago, after all…

"Basically they wanted me to lead. To teach and guide and…" Vim started to explain, in a little more detail, but the wind started to pick up. He shut an eye as we were buffeted by a gust full of cold snow. I lowered my head deeper into my fox scarf, as to cover as much of my face as possible as the gust blew.

After it passed, the loud roars of distant gusts heading our way could be heard. The snow all around us started to dance, in every direction. The storm had returned.

He sighed. "Let's go. Let's get off this peak before dark," he said as he stepped between Lilly and I, walking past us as to take the lead.

Lilly groaned. "Stupid wind!" she cursed as she turned to follow.

I nodded, agreeing with her. Yes. Now that he had used it as an excuse to end the conversation, we'd not get the rest out of him anytime soon. Even if we could hold such a conversation over the loud wind and elements.

Maybe another time. Piece by piece, as I've been doing all this time.

He was getting better, after all. Opening up far more than usual, and without as much hesitation. He had not just spoken of his parents, revealing more than before, but had done it while we weren't alone. With another nearby, Lilly. And from what she's told me, he's never once spoken about his parents in front of her before. Not in hundreds of years.

So it was only a matter of time.

Though who knew how long it'd take to hear more from him, thanks to the chaos that awaited us at our next destination.

Following Vim and Lilly, we headed deeper into the forest… away from the large gorge we'd just leapt over. Towards Lumen, and the chaos that beckoned.

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