Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty-Eight – Vim – Vim's Pursuiting Thoughts

Wrong path.

Staring at the river, raging so strongly that I couldn't even make out the bridge that had been flooded over, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Calm, Vim. Calm.

There were three main paths to the Bell Church from Lumen. One went along the coast, and was the longest. Then there was this one, the shortest path, but… well… like this river, it had hurdles. The kind that wouldn't be too difficult to face when on foot, but during moments of bad weather became like this. Impossible to pass with wagons, or horses.

Odds are Light had foreseen this, and thus had taken the middle path. The one that led deeper into the forest, but heading more towards the mountains than the ocean. I was off by a few dozen miles.

My fault. I had of course been in the rain and storms all this time, running in them, but like usual I paid little notice to them. I'd never been bothered by storms, of any kind or severity, so didn't really take them into account. I had simply taken my normal path that I'd take when alone, uncaring to consider I was following not Renn or myself… but a group of people. Many of who would be burdened or weak.

"A stupid mistake Vim," I chastised myself as I spun on a heel and ran away from the flooding river.

If someone died or got hurt because of this, I'll never be able to forgive myself…!

I couldn't feel a monarch. Not yet. But I knew better than to think that meant Renn was not in danger. If Light hadn't actually seen a monarch attack in her prophecies, then that meant she was scheming something else. Either way, monarch or scheme, Renn was in trouble. Trouble she wasn't really prepared to deal with.

The only reason I wasn't panicking outright was because of her company. Renn didn't just have Lilly with her, but Merit as well.

Light had left a few of her people at the guild building, in Lumen, to compensate Merit's lack of presence. People like Reatti, who were not just stronger than normal but able to handle situations if they needed to. I was a little… disturbed by Light's obvious, so called unanticipated, takeover of the Animalia Company, but it wasn't my place to do anything about it. It was Gerald's and Brandy's job to handle that drama. I could only help once they actually asked for it… and so far, neither had.

Basically Light's flagrant intrusion into the company has given Renn extra security and protection, in the form of Merit.

Between Merit and Lilly, and Light and her people… Renn actually stood a very good chance at defeating this supposed monarch.

Especially if it's the same type I'd recently encountered myself. If the same god who had made Pinchie and that lizard had made this one too… then odds are it was just a larger, slightly stronger than normal, animal. And although it would be dangerous, utterly so, it wasn't a creature that normal people couldn't handle if given the right tools and experience.

Lilly and Merit were both hardened non-humans. Renn, too, had her own share of experience in hunting monarchs. Plus she's been training with me, Lilly and the rest… and had recently absorbed her ancestor's heart…

"She'll be okay…" I whispered as I realized I was once again trying to sell myself on the idea that Renn would be alright.

She had to be.

There was no way Light would willingly take Renn into such peril. She wanted our child. Our daughter. The saint to come.

Risking Renn's life before that child even had a chance to be born…? I couldn't believe it… but…

"Their prophecies are always wrong in the worst ways…!" I groaned as I ran off the path and into the forest. I ran through it, until I reached a section of hills that weren't as densely forested as the rest of the area. I ran along them, and over them, as I hurried to where I expected them all to be.

Why'd it feel like I was running in a panic so often lately?

Because I have been.

Glaring at the world that was a blur around me, I picked up my pace as I tried to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Why was the world falling apart around me…? Monarchs. A possible god. Prophecies. Light returning…!

The hills ended and the dense forest returned. I ran between two trees, ones too dense to usually do so. Branches shattered and broke, flying all over the place as I ran through thick forestry. I didn't slow. I kept running, even as I ran through bushes and brushed against trees to do so.

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If this all goes bad I'll break everything. I swear it.

"Stop, Vim," I whispered at myself as I leapt over a small creek. I scared a deer that had been drinking from it, but didn't glance at it to check if I'd hurt it or not as I kept running.

There was no point growing angry. Not yet. Wait until it's time. Until it's proper to do so.

Right now I was simply grasping at straws. To keep my fury in check. Because I knew it wasn't like the world was doing this intentionally.

I wanted to blame it, as if it was. As if some invisible hand was messing with my fate, but it simply wasn't possible. It wasn't true. I was using an easy excuse as a scapegoat, just so I could not admit the fact that… well…

The reason life had been so simple for so long lately, without such strife and chaos, was because I had been indifferent all this time.

I wept when members died. I felt terrible when I failed them… but I got back up and kept on going. Because I tried the best I could, in my own way while not breaking my rules or the ones I'd agreed to. It hurt and bothered me when tragedy occurred… but I knew such things were the way of the world. A location being lost? A kingdom falls? A member gets sick and dies? Natural disasters? A monarch rampages somewhere in the world…?

All typical things. To be expected. Just a part of life. A part of the world. For not just me, but everyone.

It's just… now…

Now there was someone special. Someone I didn't want to be affected by such chaos. Someone I wanted to keep safe, and at a distance from all those terrible things.

And she should be. And not just because I loved her, and wanted and should keep her safe. But Renn was no safer from such tragedies than anyone else. She was still a normal person. A non-human, sure… thick in the blood? Of course. She had even absorbed a heart… but she was still normal. She was still bound to and stuck in the laws of this world. She was no god. Not a monarch.

Not me.

Gritting my teeth, I ran past a bear. It had gone utterly still at my approach, and hadn't even moved as I ran past it. The thing had been huge, far bigger than me even with it on all fours. Normally I'd have laughed at seeing such a large creature go still from fear and shock, as typically a human would do such a thing instead upon meeting it in the woods, but I was in no mood for such absurdity.

As I ran I slowly calmed down. I stopped outright panicking over the idea of Renn being killed or something, and instead focused on the comforting truths I'd been ignoring.

Celine and the rest have had prophecies about Renn. I didn't want to admit such a thing, but here and now it helped ease my mind.

They had foreseen us together. And the children which would come from such a bonding.

That meant, in theory, Renn would have a long life. A healthy, and hopefully happy one.

So I shouldn't panic. I shouldn't worry.

Yet I was.

"Come on…!" I groaned at myself. Not that I wasn't running fast enough, but rather because I was acting like a child.

I was far too old to be so…

So what…?

Running along a new creek, I felt oddly uncomfortable as I realized I wasn't even sure what to call my current state.

Was I being a baby? Weak? Self-righteous, maybe? Selfish, since the only reason I was really upset was because Renn was in danger? What about all the others…? Lilly? Merit? The rest? Should I not feel for them too, they who will be at even greater mercies than Renn will be? Since they won't have me right next to them as often?

Or was I just being a hypocrite. Only caring finally because it was someone I loved who was at risk?

All of the above?

What would my mother say… if she saw me now…?

I slowed a little, since I actually remembered the exact face she'd have at this moment. That scowl. That look of disappointment, as she waited for me to do better.

To be better.

To stand tall, where and when others won't…

Renn had that same look lately. Back before leaving Lumen, to go check on Narli, I had been able to tell Renn had held back in her complaints. I knew she had so much to say and ask. So much she wanted to talk about with me… concerning so, so much. But she didn't. She held back, for my sake.

Renn was keeping her own feelings and fears inside, because she was being gentle with me.

As if I was some kind of child.

"You'd have liked her, mother," I whispered as I thought of Renn. The two were different, yet so similar.

The creek eventually turned, but I didn't follow it. Instead I emerged onto a new road. A larger one, one that was big enough for wagons and carts… and sure enough, in the damp and slightly muddy dirt path I saw the indents of wheels. Ones not too old. Maybe a dozen hours or so old, judging by the way the curves of the dirt and mud had sloped and softened from the rain.

Found them. Had to be them. This path was not frequented at all by humans. It was considered too out of the way. It didn't even go very far, since it led to a now abandoned village. There were only a few farmsteads out here.

Hurrying down the road, I picked up my pace and tossed my thoughts… again, out of my mind.

I could feel it now. Distant. Ahead of me. Probably a mile or so away.

My steps grew louder as I ran harder, hurrying to the sensation.

That was either the monarch, Light, or Renn. Or another divine power entirely.

Didn't matter.

One way or another, whoever or whatever it was… would lead me to where I really wanted to go.

To Renn's happiness.

Now if I'll get there peacefully, or by wading through gore… well…

Wouldn't be the first time it, would it?

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