Far to the north, below the ruins of Horsa village, Rodeen Forton was busy cleaning her little chapel. She once again lamented the fact that this room alone was kept pristine, by her, which meant that whenever she or Enid ventured into the rest of van Aifread's base, they had to meticulously clean themselves or drag dust and dirt inside under their tails. Then again, over the months she found that the mindless repetition of cleaning a room had something relaxing to it. It helped center her, push back the bubbling anger. It also gave her time to utter curses about whatever bothered her at the time. Which, in turn, had led to all but the bravest of bandits staying clear of the ominously muttering clergywoman and her chapel outside of the sermons she held.

While being a lamia had some downsides to her existence however, Rodeen found at least one upside as well, beside her inhuman strength and speed: if she pushed herself to the very tip of her tail, she could reach over three metres in height; with some practice to balance, this allowed to clean even the ceiling without any help. For a woman who was never tall, a whole new world had opened.

Her peaceful work was interrupted when the arte at the room's head began to glow. A haze formed above and the lamia quickly slithered away, barely stopping herself from cursing whatever seraph was passing through. The first time it happened, she forgot that her Malevolence was dangerous for the seraphim; the sudden fear at her sight was confusing and a little infuriating then, but by now she had kept it firmly in mind. So Rodeen took her distance and waited for who it might be. Perhaps the same woman that met with Aifread the last few times, she did not seem too bothered by the lamia sisters' presence.

It was a woman indeed, but no seraph. Rodeen needed no esoteric sense for mana to tell. She appeared older than Rodeen remembered, clad in a simple peasant's dress instead of the robes she took to years past, but unmistakable to her nonetheless. They shared the same, slightly aristocratic and gaunt features.

"R-Runette? It is you, how are you faring?!" She immediately surged closer to meet her little sister, whose attention focussed on her at once. Rodeen's mind caught up to the situation in time and she slowed herself so as to not run Runette over, though the way her blank expression dissolved into a smile calmed her raging heart somewhat. She approached almost carefully now, wanting to embrace her sister but fearing she might break her.

Yet Rodeen's thoughts did not idle in those moments. She realised that her little sister just walked into a bandit king's hidden base. Through a means of travel only the Bloodwing Butterflies had access to. "You are with the Bloodwings?"

Runette's response was to wrap her arms around her older sister's shoulders with considerable strength. "Not exactly," she muttered into Rodeen's shoulder. "The Bloodwings are a means to an end, as well as a good ally to have. As for your earlier question, Rodeen." Another squeeze before Runette pulled back and offered her a sly smile. "His holiness the Pope has left for parts unknown a while ago. With his absence and until a new Pope has been selected, I hold power over all of the church."

That was the little sister she remembered. Rodeen huffed softly and smiled back. "You were always ambitious. Congratulations." She had half a mind to ask for Runette to undo Enid's excommunication, to let them both return home, but she knew it was not right. She knew neither of them truly wanted to go back, either.

"Thank you." Runette studied over curiously, which made Rodeen painfully aware of how her sister could not even see the changes Malevolence wrought on her; if she could, she would not smile like that. The older Forton lowered herself to the ground fully, just in case her taller sister might notice a difference in height. "How have you fared yourself, sister? The Bloodwings told me life in Horsa was quite the ordeal." A glance went around the room, examining the partly cleaned chapel.

Rodeen, though, sneered at the memories; all those sheep that expected her to solve their problems. Good riddance. "Horrible is what it was!" she spat, then sighed with a sweeping motion to indicate the general area. "This is... a little better, I think. At least those ruffians don't expect me to solve all their problems, and they attend sermons every once in a while. You never really consider what makes a bandit until you live with them, I guess."

"I heard that van Aifread is an unusual man," Runette noted thoughtfully. "Those under him are likely the same."

This time, Rodeen actually laughed. "Quite, such as Enid. She is under him in more ways than one, actually."

It took Runette a moment to catch her meaning, though she gave little more than a nod. "As long as she is happy?"

"Happier than she ever was as a nun."

"Then that is that."

Her sister took this with a lot more grace than Rodeen herself had; then again, she was always the most measured of the three. "But that aside, Enid is his right hand also. Who would have thought this was her true calling?"

"Life works in strange ways at times," Runette agreed softly. "Such as the Bloodwing Butterflies, or the gods themselves." Her eyes wandered over Rodeen again, this time from head to tail. "Or Malevolence."

The older sister went still as she realised. Runette consorted with a group consisting of seraphim. How had she not made the leap before, only understanding now that the younger Forton could, in fact, see her in this scaly form? Wide eyes met calm ones and Rodeen slowly relaxed. "You, you are not bothered by this? By me? Aren't I hideous to you?" Ever since that kind traveler explained the darkness to her, Rodeen had few fears left in life. It seemed at least this one was unfounded, in the end. It was still hard to believe.

Runette merely shook her head and stepped closer to hold her sister's hands. "It is quite alright. Your scales have quite the beautiful shade of red." A hopeful smile blossomed on Rodeen's face, only to turn into bafflement when her little sister's form contorted and grew; legs melded together with squelching noises, her dress shifted a little as her hips narrowed. Sickly green scales lined her revealed tail and lower body, a few shades darker than grass in Summer.

"It would be hypocritical of me to detest you," Runette mused out loud while her sister still stared. "For we match. And from what I heard, we make a nice, three-coloured pair of sisters with Enid."

Rodeen slowly pushed herself up on her tail to stand at even height, reaching out to touch what she saw before her. "H-How?"

Her hands were not stopped and soon ran over smooth skin, then through almost inhumanly silky hair. Runette smiled softly. "I am told it is a skill all hellions can develop, potentially. With great force of will, we can suppress our outward appearance and regain the human one we lost. Few are capable of becoming proficient in it though; I can try teaching you, but you should not get your hopes up."

She had seen straight through Rodeen's question; still, it was amazing to know and see nonetheless. "Yes, I remember that traveler telling us about something like that." Then she decided to tease a little and ruffled Runette's hair. "It seems my little sister is quite special."

Said sister huffed indignantly and slapped her hands away. "Stop that, I'm not a child anymore." Rodeen ruffled her hair again, to an actual squawk. "I said stop! Rodeen!"

She was laughing. Earnestly, at that. Runette was not so amused and quickly slithered away to get out of her reach. Rodeen almost pursued, but decided this was enough. "Come now, Runette. Let me have this, it has been years since we were together!" The other lamia merely gave her another unamused look that had Rodeen chuckling again.

"It seems you are doing well indeed."

Her dry tone almost set the older Forton off once more, but this time she kept it down. "Your arrival made my day a great deal better, is all. I missed you."

"...as did I."

Rodeen then clapped her hands, trying not to break into tears as her feelings decided to go on a rollercoaster. She still smiled, though. "Now we will go and find Enid, then take a long slither around town to talk."

"A 'slither'?"

"Yes, a slither." Rodeen almost laughed over her sister's incredulity and thumped the ground with her tail for emphasis. "We don't have legs anymore, so calling it a walk feels weird." Runette understood, of course, and palmed her face. This time Rodeen did laugh.

"Enid came up with that one, didn't she?"

"You know her so well."

Still chuckling, the crimson-scaled lamia dragged her green-scaled sibling out of the room, to find their oldest sister.

Elsewhere, on a mountain far up high, a seraph girl looked out into the distance from the cliff she sat on.

Edna was bored, like almost every day in her life. There was just so little to do up here and her previous favourite activity hurt too much now; to imagine her brother returning home and all the things they would do once he came back. He was back now, but not in the way she ever wanted.

She considered taking another shot at that sculpture she thought of; clay was nice and malleable, even stone was, to an earth seraph like her. Centuries of practice saw her being good at it, just to fill the time in a place where entertainment was hard to come by; no books to read, no people to listen to, nothing; not even trees to climb. At this point, she actually liked to sculpt; it gave her focus, let her forget for a little while. For a time, she could even do it mindlessly and get what she wanted; now however, Edna needed to pay attention again. If she let her mind wander, her sculptures ended up looking like a certain smiling boy she could not stop thinking about. A cute boy with a quick wit.

At first Edna tried to ignore it, but by now she wondered: was she starting to crush, or was she latching onto the first person to visit and talk to her in a good while? Without being a jerk, that was. Else she would have to consider Zaveid in the same vein, of which just the thought made her shudder unpleasantly. It was not the same, not at all; she did not even hate him, if she was honest. He just rubbed her the wrong way with his endless confidence and jerkish behaviour. Edna would probably sooner feed herself to her brother or jump down this cliff before she entertained romantic thoughts about him.

Which brought her back to Laphicet. A crush, or a crutch? The fact it was him her mind revolved around so much and not his sister pointed to the crush, though Velvet had undoubtedly left an impression as well. Having her around was... nice. Different from Laphicet, too; something about her nagged at Edna, but she could not put her finger on what that was. In the end, she figured it might be that she was a big sister first, the kind of sibling she always wanted Eizen to be for her.

Sighing softly, she stopped herself from dodging the subject at hand. Her interest in Laphicet was not fleeting, that much she knew. She had to stop lying to herself about this. Every visit of his was perfectly preserved in her memory, every smile etched into her mind as vivid as when he first gave it to her. It was her blessing at work without doubt. Just like thinking of Eizen returned memories of him from over a thousand years ago, just as clear as the day she saw him last.

Sometimes, Edna wondered if this was not a curse of her own. A blessing that called back fond memories to all she blessed, while granting herself a perfect memory for her own fond memories; every letter Eizen ever wrote, though long since turned to dust, stood clear in the back of her head. Every day of the short while they lived together was forever preserved in amber, to be recalled whenever she so wished. She lost years just sitting around and drowning in her memories, right after he returned as a dragon. They would never leave her either, because she loved her big brother despite it all.

But again, it was beside the point and she had wallowed in pity for long enough. Her memory between the last letter and recent times became spotty due to the monotony. Now, again, she found memories preserved where she had gained none in centuries. Her blessing did not act against her will, but rather also on her feelings; that it preserved the times Laphicet came to visit made it very clear what was going on.

She did not want to crush, or to fall in love. But she had, and her heart stood stronger than her mind. Always had, despite her attempts to cast it in chains.

"There you are!"

Edna almost flinched and carefully did not turn her head. Just as usual, but also because she did not yet know what to make of her realisation. What to say, how to say it, if she should even say anything. She simply waited, felt the mana that was another seraph getting closer, willed the luminous blush away from her cheeks in that time.

When Laphi plopped himself down next to her, she managed to appear unbothered again. If barely.

They stared out into the distance together for a moment and a bag of cookies changed hands. They did not even need to look at each other for this, it having become a bit of a ritual. Laphicet always brought her cookies and she always accepted them without a word.

As Edna began to munch on the first treat however, she wondered whether she should say thank you. He did not have to bring her anything to be welcome, but she had no idea how to say that without sounding like an idiot to herself. What ultimately came out of her mouth, though, was a different observation: "They taste different today. Kind of."

Her eyes sought Laphicet's, who averted his gaze bashfully. "It's, uh, I made those." Edna blinked and he continued uninterrupted: "Mine are finally good enough to give to people, but Velvet's are still a lot better."

"They are." He winced, then she almost winced as her words registered to herself. "Sorry, reflex."

"It's okay. You're not wrong, I still have a long way to go if I want to reach my sister's baking." He did not seem upset, but Edna sometimes did not know how to tell. She also felt like hiding behind her umbrella and turn into a blushing mess for being an idiot, again, but they sat too close for her to do that. Not actually touching, but she could tap his elbow with a single motion of her own.

But if she already made an idiot out of herself? She might as well go the extra mile. "Laphicet?"

"Hm?"

Now it was her who averted her gaze, trying her hardest not to blush. "I was meaning to say, you don't need to bring me cookies every time you visit. It's, uh, it's okay if you don't." Her mouth clicked shut and she waited for his response. It took a moment, which she spent munching on another treat.

Laphicet kicked his legs idly, that much she could see even without meeting his eyes. "I figured something like that, but, well. I like to think it makes you happy to get a little gift. Don't you like them?"

Edna's metaphorical heart had skipped a beat before that last question. She was really not used to people wanting to do nice things for her, not to mention the other matter. Her face was hot but she could not tell if she blushed; a shy glance to Laphicet revealed that he was not looking her way, which gave her a chance to fight that down before he saw. "I like them. It's just... you don't have to, I'm happy to have you either way."

There. She said it. A small weight left her chest and she closed her eyes to revel in the minor victory against herself. If Laphicet noticed anything about her or her embarassment, he did not say. She hoped he simply failed to notice. Now that this was done, Edna decided to change the subject to something less embarassing and something which drew her curiousity; she wondered several times before, every time Laphi visited her, really, but she could never think of how to bring it up. Now she was beyond caring for what he thought of her, even though she might hide in a hole once he left. So... she asked: "How did you get here?"

Her voice had finally returned to its usual flat tone, which was good because he now turned back to her. They stared at each other for a moment, then Laphicet adopted a sly little smile. "Out of the goodness of my heart, how else?"

Edna blinked and almost shot back, but then stopped herself. "I meant your speed, you're here at least once every week. It makes no sense unless you keep camping around the Spiritcrest or can fly."

Now she got a curious look from her friend. "No snide comments for once? You really want to know this, don't you?"

She could not help herself then. Her tone still playfully blank, Edna answered him as he had asked her to: "So you are the kind of man that makes a girl beg after all." Not that she would mind begging him for things, a traitorous part of her noted. She made sure not to say that out loud.

Laphi shook his head in the meantime, then he dropped onto his back; that pretty blond hair spread out around his head like a halo on the dark rock. He glanced to her for a moment, then up at the sky. "We found a teleportation arte that I analysed and replicated. And we placed a gate in a small cave further down the mountain before meeting you the first time." Edna stared at him with wide eyes, trying to comprehend what he just said. Laphi just grinned at her mischievously. "And I can fly."

He was obviously teasing now and her reaction was immediate, faster than she could stop it; Edna crossed her arms and turned away, only barely managing not to blow out her cheeks like she used to with Eizen. Laphicet kept quiet, but she could see him grinning from the corner of her eye. Once she dropped her pout however, he shrugged from where he lay. "Just so you know, I meant both of those. I can show you how to operate that arte if you want, then you could come visit me for once."

Tempting. Oh so tempting. But later, they had time. Not to mention Edna was a little afraid she would be unable to pick up such an arte, then again look stupid to Laphicet, who apparently managed to rebuild an arte long lost. So, later. "Maybe some other time. How about you show me how you fly, little birdy?"

A chuckle from the boy. "Are you sure an earthworm like you could comprehend? I might peck you up."

"You aren't early enough for-"

She stopped herself, flabbergasted, when Laphi got up and offered her a hand. Edna thought they were just throwing barbs, not that he actually offered to take her flying. She looked up at him for long seconds, trying to decide what to do. In the end, looking back at how her day went so far, she figured she might as well and took the hand. After pulling her up however, Laphi bent down and swept her off her feet in a swift motion; before Edna even knew what happened, her legs were in the air and she clutched his neck for stability. She stared at the completely unrepentant boy for a long moment, felt his arm wrapped around her back.

"A princess carry?"

He shrugged, careful not to rustle her too much. "You're always trying for dignified lady, so I figured you don't want to piggyback. And I need to keep a hold on you," he added after a moment, the hand around her knees giving her a soft pat. "Even if earth is your element, I don't want to drop you from up high on accident."

"So you're only going to do it on purpose?" She could not help but quip, yet still made herself comfortable in Laphicet's hold at the same time. Much to her own surprise, she did not dislike being held like this. The warmth of the body she was leaning against made her feel warmer, too.

"Only if you give me too much backsass," Laphi shot back with a little smile that she might have returned, had he not taken off the ground in that moment. Edna was left staring as the mountains quickly fell away. Air rushed in her ears and the scenery changed in perspective, more so than just from her usual perch. The two seraphim rose higher into the sky and from her new vantage, Edna could see the entire mountain; winds made ochre and blond hair flutter, and right in this moment, the calm and collected Laphicet that eyed their surroundings was much different to the friendly one she got used to. His smile was gone, but he held her tight nonetheless. He was warm, especially so against the cold winds rushing around them. Edna would have snuggled a little closer, had she been able to.

She tried to speak, but the wind pulled her words away before they could reach. It gave her pause, long enough for Laphi to notice; he frowned and then, a moment later, the air shifted and became still. She could feel his mana suffusing her surroundings. Edna's jaw worked for a short while, eyes slowly shrinking to their normal size as she tried to find the proper words. What she finally settled on was more a matter of fact: "So you are a wind seraph."

He could not be anything else, being able to fly like that. And powerful too, she doubted even Zaveid could actually stay in the air indefinitely. He probably would have showed that off by now, instead of walking up the mountain like all the rest.

Laphi just shrugged.

At this point, she caught the sight of lands even more distant than she could normally see. Twisting a little, Edna began to take them in. "Turn around a bit," she muttered and Laphi did, without complaint. He then kept doing it whenever she began to crane her neck. "What's that city?"

Her finger pointed westward, roughly, and he took a moment to peer into the far distance. "Lastonbell, actually. If you squint, you can see its unique stone belltower from here." Edna did just that, but failed to find it. Her eyesight was good even for a seraph, but the city too unfamiliar to her to make out this particular shape.

Edna slowly realised that she was acting like a child, again, but her friend did not seem to mind. He happily answered whatever question she had about the sights she normally never got to see. He held her close and safe. All of this together did what she successfully managed to prevent earlier. Edna even knew it from how warm her own cheeks felt; she was blushing, her entire face crimson and no place or way to hide it. She could merely remain where she was and hope he was nice about it.

When Laphicet saw her state, he blinked once and made to say something, but then closed his mouth without a word. Edna was so grateful that she considered pecking his cheek, but alas, she was not that courageous.

Not that it mattered. With or without, she already knew that this memory, too, would be etched into her mind. If not forever, then at least for a long, long time.