Laphicet, Margaret, and Alisha listened quietly as Velvet laid out what happened. Symonne wandered off on her own for a time, leaving the four of them to their own devices; her friends gave no clear signs of their feelings on the matter, but she could see that both had their fists clenched. Laphi was just worried.

"This is where we are now," she closed and summarised again: "The Lord of Calamity is dead and all his allies will be confused when no more orders come. We will use that confusion, which is where you two and Symonne come in: I want you to eradicate them wherever necessary." Margaret's eyes narrowed, but Alisha's expression fell even further in distaste; Velvet nodded at her. "I know you don't like this-" "This is an understatement" "-But we don't have the time to comb over every single one of them to see if they can be redeemed. They supported a man who wished to plunge Desolation into darkness, so they have to face the consequences of their actions. If you find any that were forced or blackmailed into the position, let them go free. Anyone else dies."

Alisha took a shuddering breath before bowing her head. Meanwhile, Margaret mulled over the plan and scrutinised Velvet curiously. "Why not do it yourself? It would go faster that way."

She began with a shake of her head. "I'm not subtle at all and my own task isn't over yet. Heldalf is dead, but it means nothing if we fail to free Maotelus in time." Both of them nodded again, already appraised of the situation; Alisha had been horrified when she learned of this matter and even now, being reminded of it made her frown diminish. Velvet continued: "We fail if his followers close rank and finish what their master started, that is what we need you for. Laphi and I are busy figuring out where Maotelus is and what needs to be done to cleanse him of the Malevolence."

Laphi frowned at that, tapping the table with a finger. "I just don't understand how he got corrupted in the first place when his blessing is the silver flame. He purified himself before, I was there." Now that he mentioned it, Velvet remembered that occurence as well. He had a point.

"Perhaps," Margaret reasoned slowly, "it is simply not possible for an Empyrean so far corrupted? That he is too powerful to cleanse the entirety of himself?" He shrugged in response, just as unaware of what went on there as Velvet.

When no one else spoke, Alisha took a deep breath to center herself, then let it out in a heavy sigh. "I loathe to admit it, but I agree that we have no time for proper conduct. If you can provide a list of people for us to purge, it shall be done." The gaze in her eyes spoke of many things left unsaid; of the trust she offered in becoming their personal reaper, killing on their command. Velvet could not help but smile.

"Thank you, Alisha."

Laphi nodded along. "We don't need to worry about this if it's in your hands and can focus. Thank you."

Margaret, whose agreement had never even been in doubt, chimed in next with worry: "...what if Sorey finds out what we're doing? He abhors killing people, for any reason." She had a point as well, Velvet found. Having Sorey stumble over this particular operation would lead to an all-out war, which would end with him dead. A thoughtful noise from Laphi dispersed the thought, though.

"Hm. I think I can get him out of the way for a month or two. We got something interesting from Pendrago recently." Seeing that he had everyone's attention, her brother smiled cheerfully and explained: "Some time ago, a fishing ship found a lone island far out from the coast. A storm washed the ship up there and they found ancient ruins, so now the scholars in Pendrago are discussing to send an expedition."

"I see where you are going with this," Alisha answered his expectant silence. "We are all aware of Sorey's love for ruin diving. Regardless, I do not think he would let himself be distracted like that. Not after what happened with Lailah."

"Perhaps not," Laphi admitted, "but we can try. He knows you and Margaret are out and about, doing good on your own. If we can convince him that nothing is about to explode, he just might. And think of the poor people with that expedition if there are any hellions on that island!" He exaggerated, but Sorey was the type to go for such an idea. Alisha nodded as well, though she frowned in distaste once again.

"It will be a few months until then either way," Velvet chimed in with a motion for the snow falling right outside the window. "They won't launch an expedition in Winter. We can spend that time cleaning up any small fry and Heldalf's more elusive allies. Anyone important can be kept where they are until we have Sorey distracted."

Her brother groaned quietly in response. "Time, always time," he muttered. "I need to keep working on this."

"No, you don't." He met her unamused gaze stoically, but folded the moment Velvet raised an eyebrow. "You already worked a lot and need a break. Go talk to Symonne."

"Alright." He rose immediately and made to look for his girlfriend, leaving behind the three women to share smiles over his behaviour.

For Laphicet, finding Symonne was not difficult anymore; he knew she liked to brood near bodies of water, preferably where nobody would bother her. So he teleported himself to Hexen Isle, where she stared out onto the endless sea while basked in orange light. The deliberate crunching of his steps garnered no reaction, but she did not turn away from him either; Laphicet sunk to the ground and gently pulled her against his side. Symonne's head came to rest on his shoulder, eyes puffy.

"It's odd," she told him blankly, "I don't want to be around people, but I don't want to be alone either." Rubbing her cheek on his shoulder, she remained there; Laphicet squeezed her once, then picked her up and deposited her in his lap to embrace from behind.

"Then I will just stay here and shut up. Talk to me when you're ready."

He could not see Symonne's face, but he just knew she was smiling. She leaned back and relaxed a little, staring forward in quiet contemplation. Sometimes she sniffled or shed a few tears, but never spoke; Laphicet knew this kind of wound would take a while to close and far longer to heal, if it ever did.

Night had fallen on Hexen Isle when Symonne spoke up, lacking her usual pep: "I'm a little tempted to have you kiss me silly, until I forget this whole mess for a bit. Maybe even a little more than that. Or maybe I can just try getting blackout drunk like I saw some humans do. But I know it won't make the pain go away." Laphicet almost responded, but decided not to; he did not dislike her first idea, but now did not feel like the right time for fooling around. He pecked her neck gently and leaned his chin on her shoulder to give his opinion, earning a weak giggle in response. "Thank you for being here. I wish Edna was here, too."

"That would be nice," he agreed. The two of them together might do better in comforting Symonne; then again, Edna suffered personally under Heldalf and lost Lailah to him, so he quietly appreciated her absence.

. .

. .

"She's still looking over here."

"Well, of course she is. No other old lady flies so high!"

Magilou cackled quietly and paid no mind to Alisha's befuddled stare. The therion was seated with Margaret at a table some paces away, though their conversation kept being sidetracked. Velvet gave the younger girls a pointed look until they both went back to discussing how to proceed, then rolled her eyes at Magilou. "I have a feeling she hadn't worked out that you only play the forgetful grandma."

"That as well, though I technically am a grandmother."

"And who was insane enough to put a child in you?"

"Hey now, that's rude!"

Velvet snorted and ignored her friend's mock indignation. "Also true, though. Just... please tell me it wasn't Rokurou. I don't even want to imagine the chaos a child from the two of you would create." Magilou just grinned and refrained from commenting; at first Velvet took this as an admission, but then she realised the other woman was playing around again and turned away with a huff. Desolation appeared so small from atop Innominat's grand structure that she could not help but marvel time and again.

"I didn't thank you for working on Symonne yet, did I?" Velvet allowed herself a smile, but kept watching the planet beneath instead of Magilou. "She gave up Heldalf's secrets and lured him to me just earlier today. We have a chance to free Phi now."

"All's well that ends well," the elder agreed cheerfully, though she nudged Velvet's shoulder with her walking cane right after. "Though I doubt she is well right now."

Velvet sighed in response. "She isn't and won't be for a long time, but I think she will get better. Laphi is with her right now. She's good for him, and he for her, so I have to thank you for that, too."

"My, just the two of them? I wonder what they could be up to right now..." Magilou trailed off with a teasing grin, her intent clear. Velvet ignored it entirely in favour of deadpanning at her.

"Likely one is crying and the other trying to comfort her."

"You're no fun." When Velvet ignored her complaint as well, Magilou rolled her eyes and leaned back. "Oh well, no matter. So Symonne came through in the end? I gave Edna a little nudge so she had a chance, but it seems that wasn't enough."

"Oh, it was enough alright," she countered her old friend with a grin, finally meeting the other woman's curious gaze again. "The three of them are an item. We just sent Edna off to Elysia about a week ago, so she isn't around."

"Huh. Surprising, but not unwelcome. They are all starved for genuine relationships, in one way or another." Magilou nodded sagely to herself. "Symonne and Edna had no one until recently, while your baby brother had only you and Artorius for all his life."

Velvet nodded, though she felt obligated to interject: "Edna had Eizen." She was given a raised eyebrow and inclined her head in agreement. "Yeah, he wasn't around, but still." Feeling uncomfortable for having brought it up, she changed the subject: "Speaking of, Laphi worked out a method that might work for purifying a dragon, but it takes three Empyreans to pull off." Seeing that she had Magilou's undivided attention, Velvet elaborated: "First we need myself to draw out as much Malevolence from the dragon as possible, then Innominat to suppress its raging emotions somewhat so the personality beneath can claim control, and then Maotelus to cleanse the dragon in that exact moment."

Of course they could not test it yet, but Velvet saw the wisdom in her brother's theory. Apparently, Magilou did as well. "Impressive," she agreed. "Tell me the details."

The younger woman grimaced, but did as asked. The moment her old friend began to make further inquiries beyond what Laphi told her however, she had to shake her head. "Sorry, I'm still trying to wrap my head around a lot of it."

"You have an Empyrean's mind and still need time to get stuff like this? For shame, young lady. You should study more!" Magilou's mock stern look was met with incredulity, at which point she dropped it in favour of a chuckle. "But that aside, I get most of it. Laphicet will have to explain the theory.

"So you're a nerd, got it," Velvet deadpanned, satisfied to see her friend grimace when the barb registered.

"I am an alpha nerd, thank you very much!" Magilou fell quiet after that and mulled something over; Velvet gave her the time and waited until she continued on her own: "Now, I notice that this entire plan hinges on Maotelus being retrieved safely."

"Nothing we can do about it. The silver flame is necessary for it to work. Besides, this is a proof of concept; if we can restore one dragon, we can restore others if need be." It was a weak reason and they both knew it; Magilou thankfully did not point out how this was done for Eizen in particular. Instead, she produced a gently shining arte square above her palm; the spell completed moments later, letting a silvery flame burst forth and burn silently.

"Quite," she agreed with the astonished Velvet. "Then how about I help you with that?"

She could not help but stare at the impossibility before her. "You're... a shepherd?"

"Psh, no! Magilou Mayvin, a shepherd? Please, sweetie, be real." She left a pause to be dramatic, clenching her fist to extinguish the flame. "I analysed Maotelus' blessing and created an arte to replicate it."

"...that's possible? Why didn't you say something?"

Magilou rolled her eyes at that, resting her chin on steepled hands. "Maotelus and I had a deal about this, kinda. Just think, Velvet: if it's possible to replicate a malakh's blessing, and something as potent as the silver flame at that, this is proof positive that others can also be replicated. If I told or taught others, what would they do? What could they do? The Reaper's Curse, Innominat's suppression, Symonne's illusions. Others could wield any of them and any other dangerous or destructive blessing they can find."

She had a point, but it sounded far too negative for Velvet's liking. "On the other hand," she retorted after mulling it over, "it could also be used to copy any positive blessing."

"Oh please, sweetie. You know how humans are, and no malakh has the drive to figure out an arte that complicated. Besides, who would want to let others use their own unique power in the first place?" Her reasoning remained sound; Velvet figured that a lot of thought had gone into the matter. When she inclined her head, Magilou offered her a small grin. "That aside, a few select individuals do know about it. I created the Firekeeper's Oath based on it, to grant a seraph access to the silver flame as if it were their own blessing."

"That was you?"

"Indeed it was me! Who else but the wicked witch Magilou?" This time Velvet sighed, which drew a chuckle from the other woman. She could not help but smile herself a moment later.

"Would you teach Laphi?" When the question did not draw an immediate refusal, Velvet elaborated: "The fact aside that he could figure out how to transfer his resonance-boosting blessing into an arte, we need it now. Of course no one but you and us will learn of it."

"I don't dislike the idea, truly I don't. Odd how life changes at times. Another student." Magilou, paused before throwing Velvet a grin. "Is he a good boy like Laphicet?"

Velvet huffed over the jab. "That one rebellious phase aside, he is." Her friend laughed heartily in response. However, this entire subject matter impressed another idea upon Velvet. "We could go and purify Eizen right now," she suggested with a nod toward Magilou; the witch nodded sagely.

"That we could, but he would leave the moment he's back."

She did not even need to agree with Magilou; they both knew it was the case with Edna so close. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," she admitted. "When Lailah turned, she became a white-horned dragon. You remember what that means, right?"

"As if I could ever forget." All levity was gone now, both women painfully aware of the difficult choices that awaited. Unconciously, Minkkubi curled a little tighter about the slumbering dragon in her grasp. "Alas, nothing important in life is ever easy. We have to sort Lailah's fate out sooner or later... but for now, I agree that we should get Eizen back now. His will is great, but even he will break eventually."

"I'll say. That madman has been fighting so long already that he deserves a break." Velvet hesitated there, a sudden idea popping into her head. She glanced toward Margaret and Alisha, who were still absorbed in a map. "Think those two and Symonne would like another friend along?"

Her suggestion drew a snort which became laughter moments later. "Oh my, Eizen among those three? I would pay money to see this! Tell your baby brother to prepare, I was bored anyway!"