For once I had nothing to do.

Or well, nothing pressing that needed to be addressed at the location I was presently at. I myself, personally, had lots to do. More than I wanted to admit. But Vim the protector? Well…

Walking up the stairs, heading for the roof, I wondered where I should begin first.

Should I have us just leave…? Head back west? Should I head south, completing my circuit that I originally set upon when last leaving Telmik? Should I sit here and wait for Light, as she so readily implied I'd do with utter confidence?

Personally I wanted to burn it all down, but if I did that I'd never hear the end of it from Renn, so…

Opening the door to the roof, I breathed in the rather chilly air as I stepped out onto it. I shut the door behind me, and glanced around as I typically did when entering a new location. To scan for people, or issues, or enemies… or gods and monarchs… and instead, oddly enough, found Merit.

Frowning at the small creature, I glanced around the roof again.

Renn wasn't here. And I hadn't actually needed to look around to confirm that. I felt Renn. She was a few floors below. I think she was with Reatti, or at least that was who I had last seen her with.

But Merit being on the roof of the Animalia Company building was not odd. She liked to grow flowers and plants, and up here was the largest gardens. But… she wasn't at the gardens. They were on the other side of the roof. Instead she was sitting at one of the smaller tables. Under one of the canopies, near an area where one could cook with a sunken barbecue in the floor. She wasn't cooking though, and good thing since it was lightly drizzling.

Walking over to her, I wondered if she was up here pouting or something. As far as I was aware, she's not really left Renn's side since we'd arrived. Yet here she was… sitting at a table in silence up here all alone, without any seeming reason or purpose.

Though she might just be sitting alone and resting. For all I knew she'd just spent the last few hours working on the nearby garden or something and had just come over here to sit for a moment.

"What do you want?" Merit asked without looking at me as I stepped under the gazebo-like canopy.

"I should be the one asking that. Why are you here in my hidey-place?" I asked.

"Hidey place…?" Merit finally glanced up at me. Her hair was soaked, which I just now noticed, as I went to sit at the table across from her. As I sat, I sighed a bit and glanced up at the gazebo. It wasn't leaking, anywhere, which meant that Merit had likely been under the rain doing something else. Maybe my earlier assumption that she'd been working in the garden all this time had been correct.

"So? Why aren't you clinging to Renn? You know that we're going to leave soon, don't you?" I asked.

Merit huffed. "No you're not. Light said so."

"Light also says Renn's pregnant. She's as often wrong as gods are," I said, thinking of Stance.

The young looking Merit gave me a weird look. "You sure do say weird things at weird times. Do you do that unintentionally, or are you trying to get me to ask about it?" she asked.

"Actually it's because I had been thinking of the god I'd just vented some of my frustration upon. Pay it no heed," I said.

She huffed at me. "And you wonder why Renn slept with me last night and not you!"

My eye twitched. I had in fact wondered why that had happened. We had returned yesterday from the Bell Church, and so I had fully expected her and I to… well… enjoy our night together. I'd been gone all this time, and although we had spent a day at the Bell Church we had been separated. She had spent the night with Light, Lilly and Merit instead of me.

Didn't she miss me? "Maybe I hadn't been gone long enough for her to miss me," I mumbled.

"Oh shut it. She missed you so much it made her sick. Gods! You're insufferable!" Merit sounded like she wanted to spit at me as she leaned against the table and rested her head on her hands, looking like an exasperated child.

"Has she been sleeping, Merit?" I asked, ignoring her snide comment.

"Hm…? Not enough. She slept last night, actually slept, for I think the first time since you left. She even snored for once," she said.

Oh? That was good to hear. "Her snores are cute, huh?"

"They are. By the way she likes to snuggle. Does she hold you in her sleep too?"

"Of course she does?" Was she actually asking that?

Merit's nose twitched as she "Tsk'd."

Smiling at how offended she looked over the fact I was shown such affection too, I wondered what she'd think if I told her that Renn likely held anyone she slept with. Though… well…

I frowned at that thought. In my opinion, Renn did hold anyone she slept with. I'd seen her sleep with many people during our travels, but there was a flaw in that anecdotal perspective. Renn, when she did sleep with those other than me, did so with those she considered her friends. Merit. Fly. Lomi, or Angie. In fact…

"What are you thinking…? It better not be anything crude or I'm going to…!" Merit threatened me as I slowly shook my head at her.

"I just realized that Renn actually doesn't sleep with just anyone. She only sleeps with those she cherishes, like you," I said as I thought about it.

Merit sat up a bit straighter, her eyes which had been narrowed and glaring at me were now wide and open.

I nodded after a few more moments of thinking about it. Yes. Renn only slept with those she loved. Or saw as children, like Lomi or Angie. Other than the children, she's really not slept with anyone else has she? Narli? But was Narli a child in her eyes or not? She was in mine. Then there was Riz at Secca… She had also spent a night with Sharp once while we were at the Crypt, but I wasn't sure if they had even slept that night. I think they had just stood up all night talking as they made bandages…

A small sniff made me leave my thoughts as I glanced across the table and found Merit sighed as she wiped her face. I tried to pretend that she did so because of her wet hair, for her sake.

"While I was gone… she didn't sleep with Lamp or those pirates had she?" I asked carefully.

Merit glared at me. "Huh? No. In fact she didn't spend much time with them at all. She was upset over it. Light and the others kept bothering her," Merit said, sounding angry again. Odds are she knew I had noticed her earlier tears.

"That's something, at least… though not. What is worse, you think? Her having a tryst with a human or getting involved with Light?" I asked.

"Tryst…? Are you saying that just to be funny, or are you serious? She loves those humans, but not in that way Vim," Merit said.

Says you. Renn's perception of love was a little odd. She had spent a lifetime with that one human, Nory, and although it had not been an outright physical relationship it had been nearly everything else. Plus Renn, if she even realized it or not I didn't know, actually seemed to have zero interest in men. She always seemed to gravitate towards women and children... It was why I usually worried a little whenever she met a woman she found interesting, or pretty. I couldn't see Renn ever cheating on me with another man, but a good woman? Would happen in an instant if I wasn't careful. Maybe.

I kept such thoughts to myself though as Merit leaned back in her chair a bit. "A sad thought. Renn falling for a human. Considering she had before," Merit said.

Oh? So Merit had known already. Figured. Did Renn not keep anything secret? "She hadn't realized how many of us existed. To her, before the Society, she had been alone nearly. Or may as well have been," I said.

She nodded. "And considering her family, one cannot blame her. Kind of funny, we grew up in the same cesspool even though so different," Merit mumbled.

I gently nodded at that. That was strangely on the nose, wasn't it? But it was also correct. Renn had avoided anything more than physical abuse from her family, unlike Merit, but Renn's sisters hadn't. And thus she too had known and experienced it, even if from a distance.

"Many of our people had suffered like you two, Merit. At least back then," I said gently.

"Mhm… and now instead of such cruelty, we instead suffer idiots," she said.

I noted how seriously she had said that. It made me wonder if Merit would have preferred a world where people were brutes and cruel, but not stupid, over the one we had now. Though it was likely more that she was simply including me in that group of supposed idiots, instead.

For a few moments only the rain spoke, and then Merit gestured lightly at me. "Can I ask something, Vim?"

"Considering you usually never ask for permission… I'll say yes, with a lot of wary safeguards in place," I said with a nod.

She smirked at me. "Did you know? Before meeting her?" she asked.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

My eyes narrowed at her, and I felt as if I should have been more serious with my joke just now. Now I really was on guard.

"No, Merit. I had not known about Renn at all."

She held my gaze for a moment, and then slowly nodded. "Okay," she softly said.

Taking a deep breath, I sighed and looked away from her. Her gaze hurt. I didn't like how relieved, and pained, she looked over my answer. "If I had known, I would have avoided her. Completely," I said.

"I figured. I still… wanted to ask. Because as much as I hate prophecies too, I think I'd have still clung to her all the same," Merit said.

Yeah, well I'm not you.

I didn't say such a thing though, and simply shrugged. "Honestly who is to say, Merit? I say such a thing with such confidence… but who am I to know? Maybe I would have fallen for her even harder, faster, had I known? And then maybe Light's stupid prophecy of her being pregnant already would be reality and not a fantasy," I said.

"What are you going to do about that, by the way?"

"About what? Their prophecies concerning her and her children?" I asked, fearing having to answer.

"Well… yes, both. But I more so meant what are you going to do when Light realizes she isn't? She's tricked and believes it right now, somehow, but it won't take her long to see through the veil. What then?" Merit asked.

I nodded slowly as I reached up to scratch at the side of my head. I had felt a drop of rain just now, which I wasn't sure how I'd gotten hit by it. There wasn't even much wind. Maybe the gazebo was leaking after all. "I'm hoping we're long gone before she has a chance to. And when it comes time for them to meet again in person…? Well… I'll deal with it then, I hope," I said. Honestly I wasn't really sure how to fix that dilemma at the moment.

I had no idea how Light would act once she realized… but something told me it wasn't going to be good.

"Hmph. For a man who can kill a god without batting an eye, you sure are a coward," she said.

Oh. She was asking why I didn't just fix it in a more direct, proper, way.

"Either try to keep her out of my bed, or let me drag her into it. Don't do both," I said.

Merit's mouth trembled a bit. "I'm trying my best here, damn it!" she shouted at me.

"So am I!"

She growled at me a moment, and then relaxed and sighed. "Why are we such broken failures, Vim…?" she mumbled in defeat.

"Because that's all anyone is? I dare you to name one person who actually has their shit together," I said with a light gesture around us.

"Renn?"

I scoffed at that. "Renn's as much a mess as you, Merit. She just doesn't let her fractures and cracks stop her from loving every moment of this haphazard life we live," I said.

She lowered her head a bit as she sniffed. "Just because it's true doesn't mean you have to say it so directly like that," she said.

"Sorry," I apologized.

Merit took a deep breath and sighed it out. As she did some white haze came from her, telling me she had gone a little cold inside. My words had actually hurt her, and now I felt bad. "I can't blame you, Vim… I'd have chosen her over me too," she then said.

Oh boy…

"If you try to steal her from me…" I said gently.

She laughed at me. "Luckily for you, I don't want her in that way. I don't like women, Vim, they are too much like me," she said.

Smirking at her, I nodded. "I like women too. For the same reason."

"Like you…?" she asked with an odd look, as she tried to understand me.

"I'm saying because they're not like me at all, Merit. Not that I'm like them," I said, correcting her misunderstanding.

For a moment Merit studied me, and then she smiled and snickered. "Right? You're a bumbling mess, aren't you?"

I am.

For a long moment we sat in silence, as Merit gently smiled at me… and then she sighed and nodded. "You're not going to apologize at all, are you?"

"Why should I? It'd just be insulting. Even if I genuinely meant it, you know how worthless the words will mean. I can't love you Merit, I won't. I'll be honest I'm not even sure why I love Renn, I just do. And no, don't you dare say it's because of fate… because that reality is starting to really dig into my soul and it hurts and makes me want to flood the world again," I said with a groan at the thought.

Merit's smile shifted a bit as she tilted her head. "You flooded the world once?"

"On accident. And it wasn't really me; it was the god I was fighting at the time." And it hadn't been the whole world… just most of it.

"Hm… are you a god, Vim?" Merit then asked.

I shook my head. "No. You've not asked that in a long time… why? Is Renn filling your head with odd ideas?" I asked, thinking of all the topics and conversations Renn's had lately with those like Meriah and Rapti.

Actually, where was Meriah…? She should be here by now.

"Hm? Renn doesn't even think you're a monarch or special in that way at all. She actually thinks you might be some weird human or something," Merit said as she glanced down at herself, and then went to do something beneath the table. Maybe rummage in her pocket or something.

"A human…?" I asked, a little stunned to hear so. Really?

"That or something silly. Like a snail," Merit added.

I blanched at that. Snail…? She was likely thinking of those damned stinky things at Secca, then. That was rude, but kind of hilarious all the same.

"Here." She then placed something on the table. Something round and small.

Ah. Whatever she had been rummaging for. I wonder what it…

The world grew colder as I stared at something impossible. Something that shouldn't exist.

"What…?" I whispered as I stared at what could only be a heart. A monarch's heart.

A red one. But…

"Hm…? It's the heart of that lion. Light wanted it, but I claimed it before she could. Said it goes to the one who slain it, as per your rules, and she wasn't able to say anything about it. I think it was because she was exhausted. She healed Martin and Lilly at the same time, so was barely even able to stay standing let alone argue with me," Merit said with a proud smirk.

Reaching out, I grabbed the small heart… and realized I wasn't mistaking anything.

Bringing it closer to my face, I glared at the thing… and wondered why I didn't feel it at all.

"Vim…?" Merit whispered my name as I tried to comprehend how the thing before me existed.

"This came from that monarch? You're sure?" I asked.

"Yeah…? It's the heart; even Renn mentioned she felt it was. She said it made her hand tingle when she held it," Merit said.

Right…

That had all been before I killed him.

Before Stance supposedly killed all his monarch servants. Before I'd killed him.

"Vim?" Merit asked again, as I then fully enclosed the heart in my hand… and wondered if I could do it now.

The thing wasn't glowing. It had the same familiar swirl inside it, like a tiny storm, but it wasn't glowing. It wasn't warm to the touch. It wasn't thumping as with a heartbeat.

And most importantly, I didn't sense it at all.

I'd not sensed it on Merit before sitting down. I didn't sense it, even with it in my hand… so…

Standing up, I angled the orb away from Merit. I put my own body between her and it, in case something went terribly wrong… and then, right as Merit went to ask what I was doing, I closed my hand around it and squeezed.

The thing shattered before I even put much strength in it. It cracked loudly, and I felt the thing pop into countless tiny pieces in my hand… as Merit hurriedly stood up too.

"Vim!" Merit shouted at me in shock as I turned back towards her… lowered my hand and tilted it, opening it above the middle of the table.

Merit and I both watched reddish pink dust and pieces of what looked like broken glass fall onto the table.

Taking a deep breath, I sighed as I nodded. "Well… that happened," I said.

"Um… uh… okay. You broke it? Why?" Merit asked as she reached out to touch the remnants of the heart. I watched the way her small finger pushed aside some of the few remaining whole pieces, and the dust they rested upon.

"I've never been able to break a heart, ever," I told her.

Merit stopped messing with the dust and glanced up at me.

I nodded at her. "Yet that heart… this one… had been lacking in something. It felt empty. Dead. So… well…" I shrugged as I gestured at it.

"So you broke it…? Why though? Wasn't it a heart? You and so many people always want them, aren't they special?"

"They are. My… well…" I shifted as I wondered I should actually tell her or not. But then decided it was fine. After all… I'd already realized what was going to happen. Even if Merit hadn't yet herself.

She'd be soon joined to Renn, by the hip nearly. I fully expected her to join us west. Or well, north, once we set up that new location.

Nebl and his family were planning on coming. And now Berri and hers too. So… well… it was only to be expected, in a way.

"Well what? Vim, you just broke a heart!" Merit shouted at me, sounding annoyed.

"The god, his name had been Stance. Before I killed him he killed all the monarchs he'd given birth to. I think that's why this heart was broken. You said Light and Renn sensed it? That it made Renn's hand tingle? That's because she had been holding it before that moment. Before the god… killed his creations," I said.

Merit frowned at me. "I uh… didn't know gods could do that," she said.

"They could do many things. They're gods, Merit," I said simply.

"You always say they hadn't been real gods though! Being able to just… kill all of the life they created sounds very god-like to me!" Merit shouted.

"I know! Wait… let me think…" I raised a hand to quiet her, since I wasn't at all in the mood to have this conversation here and now. Instead… I figured out how to prove this.

Downstairs. The heart of that lizard. It was in the bags.

"Wait! Vim!" Merit shouted angrily at me as I stepped away, to head downstairs.

"I need to verify this," I said simply.

"But…! Gosh!" Merit yelled as I heard the table make noise. I didn't need to glance back to know she was currently trying to gather up the remnants of the heart I'd just crushed.

I'll verify this.

If this was true… if a monarch's heart, its connection to the divine, could be de-activated… that meant there was possibly a way to replicate it.

I could do it too. Somehow. And if I could do that… I could do it for more than just a heart. I could disconnect a saint from their connection. A monarch from its abilities. Maybe even do it to another god outright, and save myself all the trouble.

And even if I couldn't… it'd also help me confirm other things. Such as the fact that Stance hadn't been lying.

His powers had been weakened. Inept. Dull. Cursed, as he called it.

Even if I couldn't replicate the same thing… if I could just figure out how he had been cursed… if I could figure out how to break other gods and monarchs in the same way he had been… then…

"Vim…!" Merit shouted at me as I headed downstairs, with her quickly following after me.

"Let's go run some tests, Merit!" I said excitedly. My mind was racing wildly, unable to contain all the possible ideas and hypothetical scenarios I could soon test and try out! I couldn't even remember the last time I'd been so lucky to find such a flaw! Such a weakness!

It was probably the best yet!

"Hurry up!" I shouted at her as I began to run, unable to keep myself from not doing so anymore.

"Freaking weirdo…!" Merit complained, yet followed me dutifully anyway.

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