——-
NOTES:
———-
We're finally reaching Ramshackle...20,000+ words in.... Im so fucking sorry

Lilia is going to be giving us moral support and advice , YIPPEE

Also to the three people who skipped the previous chapter (???) Please read that one!
It isn't as important as this one but It sets up dynamics that might confuse you when there mentioned later, and I want you guys to understand and enjoy this book to the fullest!!

Note: I will be using Irish Gaelic Fae lore for most of our Fae characters, aswell as
Japanese & Chinese Dragon mythology for Malleus, so be aware of that,
and yes, Thats why Lilia , Sebek , Malleus and Silver will say some things in Gaelic throughout the story, the sweet, the cryptic and the chaotic

Not in this chapter though, sorry

(and You get to learn some cusses in Gaelic , good for you!) (Courtesy of My Dad & My Aunt for my Gaelic knowledge, and my Grandma for Fae lore!)

(Fun fact: In Ireland , some refer to them as
"The wee people"

I shit you not, look it up)

————————————————————————

The second Lilia appeared in-front of her, Ophelias internal gears went into overdrive

𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑻

𝑶𝒌... 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 , 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌

𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆, 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚,   𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑰 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒑 𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒐𝒓 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈

𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑲𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒎, 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆
"𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒎" 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒐 𝒈𝒐

𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒄𝒉𝒐-𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 -20 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒔
𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏

𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒖𝒏, 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔

"My my, you're quite focused. Care to share your thoughts?"

The small Fae walked beside her, though their height difference was very minimal, she barely over-passed him by a whopping 4 cm
Yet she still felt intimidated, oddly enough.

"Uh-sorry, just alot on my mind is all. Its been one hell of a day, y'know?"

"I see..."

Softly humming, he floated above her, observing her coat carefully for something

"Pardon me, but you have a Fae lounging in your hood, A very rare one at that. Stay still a moment, would you?"

Lilia then did a hawk dive on her hood, pulling out a freshly awakened Che'nya by the scruff, who still remained in his secondary form, and was thoroughly pissed at his rude awakening, if his loud growling was anything to go by.

"RRREOOWWW"

Seemingly still in a sleep addled state, the feline likely had forgotten he could simply teleport away, and began squirming in the Bat's grip, to no avail.

"Hush now, little one, you know you shouldn't hide in unsuspecting humans coats.
No matter how fluffy you may be, its still very impolite to not ask first."

Realizing what the Diasomnia Vice's perceptive on the situation was, she interjected as fast as she could muster, hoping Lilia wouldn't throw Che'nya halfway across campus before she could explain.

"Put him down! He's-"

The blood red eyes of the elder fae portayed his surprise as the striped feline in his  grasp vanished with a cartoonish "POP" sound, only to re-appear above the human in the trio's head, now reverted to his normal form. Though he smiled from ear to ear, it was not one of  joy, but of suspicion and slight rage.

"Her Knight of sorts, for she is my Queen Piece in a dangerous game of chess, purrsay."

Che'nyas tail, now returned to its natural size in human form , nearly the length of her body, she realized, as he loosely wrapped it around her upper torso,

His arms crossed protectively yet playfully around her neck as he rested his chin on the crown of her head . The rest of him remained floating soundlessly as he grinned.

A few things came to her at that moment that for whatever reason,
1 : Che'nya didn't trust Lilia one bit.
2: Che'nya is protective of his friends when he's suspicious of someone
3: Not only did he hint at her having important knowledge, he also referred to himself as a retainer, to the face of a retainer of several centuries. So he may or may not have screwed up a bit on that lie.

𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑺𝑻 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂

𝑰𝒎 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔,  𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅.

The Ancient Fae gave an small apologetic smile to her, yet his blood red gaze remained on the newest addition to the conversation, his voice was still genuine as he spoke to her kindly.

"Oh , my apologies, Deary, I wasn't informed you had a retainer, non-the-less one of his caliber."

Turning towards the feline of the group, the once sweet smile now almost a threat, a mischievous one at that, his voice now laced with needles instead of soft thread as he glared, eyes locked with the boy levitating above her

"And here I thought Cheshire Fae had been hunted to extinction centuries ago, too. 
After playing with the threads of the Sevens fates,
most believed your kind had doomed themselves,
I seldom but admit myself included.
Perhaps I shouldn't have underestimated a species with power on par with the Draconic,
The Children of Entropy never cease to lose their whimsy, hm?"

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈??
𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑺𝑬 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅!!

𝑨𝒍𝒔𝒐, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎?? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐?
𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒆'𝒏𝒚𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒐???

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔....

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒃𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒅.

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔

Rubbing two fingers on her temple, Ophelia released a drawn out sigh,  her weariness audible.

"Look, I don't know about whatever is going on, or about what past events I haven't been filled in on , but I've had one of the weirdest, most exhausting days of my life today, and I would absolutely love to reach the dorm and de-stress, preferably while sleeping. So, please just...try to get along."

The two fae were completely silent for a moment, the only sounds heard was the chirping of crickets, a fitting background noise in the scenario, she supposed.
Alas, it was interrupted by a loud vibration from her tablet, the notification screen causing her small satchel to glow blue for a second.

𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒑, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒎𝒆, 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒎 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑹𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆.
𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 , 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎, 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏
𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 , 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕

𝒖𝒏-𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕 𝒉𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒆'𝒏𝒚𝒂.
𝑷𝒍𝒖𝒔, 𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈...

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.

"Actually, Che'nya, could you do me a favor?"

Drumming his fingers on her head, she could feel him staring down at her with curiosity

"What is it? Mew need a bag carrifurr? Purrhaps want to take the rabbit hole expurress instead?"

"Thanks, but actually, could you head to the dorm in advance? Just to make sure everything is somewhat prepared and safe, so we can rest the second I return. Besides, I kinda want to.. talk to him."

Popping his head off, it floated down to look at her face, as she whispered the words "Grim" and "Fire Hazard" to him.  His ears slightly twitched as he slid his eyes to the Vice repetitively, signaling his grievances with her idea.

"It'll be fine, Che'nya. He's one of the very few safe ones...I think."

Lilia seemed to quietly observe the situation.
no doubt fully aware of Che'nyas reservations, but also partially, Ophelia's intuitive guess that the old fae had an alternative reason for volunteering to be a guide.

"Fret not, child. She will be safely escorted to her new place of residence,
I give you my word. Alas I have been a retainer for longer then either of you have come into being, I have quite alot of experience with this sort of thing.
However, I cannot promise to abstain from any Shenanigans, nor Hijinks, unless the young lady tells me otherwise."

—————————————————————

After some convincing, she managed to get the Cheshire Fae to head to Ramshackle in advance, leaving her alone with the Vice Housewarden of Diasomnia. A situation she was slightly scared to deal with, but preferable to the alternative of her soon to be acquired dorm becoming more crispy then usual due to a certain direbeast hybrid getting chilly.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't slightly shaking where she stood as her furry guard disappeared into the night. The truth was, Lilia Vanrouge was a character- no, person she did not have a way to easily deal with, should it come down to it.

In the sense of power, obviously yes, she would lose that fight even before a minute passed.
but her worries lied more in faking her knowledge and Identity. 

He had lived hundreds of years, not only as a General, but as a Father. She didn't doubt he had seen almost every lie in the book, especially one as common in war as faking an identity to slip by.                                                   

She was confident in her acting, yes, but not confident enough to believe she could fool him so easily.

To boot, he was one of the few she did not know much about. What she had learned up to where she left off in the 7th Book, and the occasional event, is where her knowledge of him ended.

Hell, he was the only character she DIDNT have an SR or higher card of, so she couldn't even go off vignette knowledge.

He was not prideful enough to use it against him, nor gullible enough to believe her without reservation, or gluttonous enough to bribe with food or other desires.                                                 
He could raise hell if he desired it, should she mess up horridly.

Alas, she had set this tightrope and sent her spotter away, so she had to make it across alone, for better or for worse.

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆

As they began their trek to Ramshackle,  her hope of Lilia starting some form of interaction to quell the rebirth of an awkward walk in silence, the second of the day.

Taking matters into her own hands, she tried her hand at starting any form of conversation .

𝑺𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆

"......so..um..."

The Fae immediately interrupted to her attempt at starting a discussion, obviously jumping on the chance of finally getting her to talk.

"No need to be so nervous, child. Being so forhtianful all the time might make you turn yellow."

𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒉𝒊𝒂-𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘? 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈  𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈?

"...Sorry, theres just alot on my mind, y'know?  This is alot to take in. I've only been here for 6 hours and I...its just...stressful is all."

Turning around so that he faced her as they walked, he gave her a warm smile, which somehow only made her more nervous.

"Care to share your woes with little'ol me?  Perhaps a listening ear might help clear your mind. Even the smallest of advice can be the most beneficial, after all."

𝒀'𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕

Later, she would be convinced her lack of both energy and mental stability in that moment caused her to make such a risky decision, but now was not that time.

"Its kinda hard to explain....but more or less........I just don't know how to handle my current reality of all this-"

Gesturing towards the castle that would soon be her new school, she accidentally hit a large branch in the process, causing a slight pain in her hand.

"Hell, I don't even know if I'm going home anytime soon. Where I'm from , theres no such thing as magic, Zip- Nada - Nein. And now.....
I've teamed up with a Catboy Fae straight out of Alice in freaking Wonderland to stop a disaster ,
got chased by a demon cat, met a pair of brothers with literal FIRE for hair, and ran headfirst into some weirdly princely guy with horns who looked like the male lead in some fantasy novel-"

𝑰 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝑶𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕

𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑰'𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅

"-and now I'm walking to my new dorm with you.
Considering I don't know jack about this world, I'm going to have to be on my guard 24/7...and, well yea, thats about it."

𝒀𝒆𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔, 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑰'𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆

Placing a hand on his chin thoughtfully, Lilia slowed his pace, yet remained facing backwards as they walked

"That is quite much for one person to experience and worry about within less than a days time. May I give you my interpretation of your situation?"

Shifting her weight from side to side, Ophelia was , in all honesty, terrified to hear what had he would say. Yet she nodded anyway, doing her best to claw her way through this conversation.

"Hmm, my guess is that you are in a situation that makes you believe that camaraderie and enjoyment must wait til you seize victory.
For you think it would only be a hinderance to create bonds that may come with a risk of betrayal at its finest, or endangering those you care for, sheerly due to being associated with you."

Skipping around the corner of the street, the elder resumed his speech with a eerie calmness

"You hold information on those in high power, both the good and bad.

You are aware others may use underhanded tactics, such as using those you befriended to get to you, or befriending you for the purpose of learning your weaknesses , to learn such information.
The worst possibility being bringing severe harm to you and those you have bonded with.
Therefore you fear letting others close to you."

Her face froze in pure and udder shock.
He had shot his guess of her mindset from the dark, yet still landed a bullseye on it.
He had known her for maybe 20 minutes, but figured her out in only 4 of them.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒂𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒅 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔?

"Gauging by your reaction, Dearie , it seems I've found the dragons hoard."

"How did you-"

Pausing his step, Lilias expression remained smiling, but a sense of melancholy crinkled into his eyes

"Back in my 200's, I shared that mentality.
Once you see it in your reflection one too many times, a similar pain becomes easy to identify on others faces....Anywho-"

As they resumed walking, the old fae slowed his pace so that he wasn't too far ahead of her.

"If you perhaps seek advice,
All I can say is that if you don't enjoy life in the moment, free from fear, you will never live at all."

Another small strain of a strange silence followed as their journey resumed, part of her wanting to ask for more advice, the other wishing she hadn't started the conversation at all.
She had made the gamble that Lilia would simply joke around as they traveled to Ramshackle
Instead
The emotions she had tried to ignore had been dug up and revealed to the surface level of her conscious,  reminding her over and over how absolutely doomed she was, not to mention how lonely she would be in the end.  Though she felt tears prick her eyes, she pushed them back.
Her mask couldn't break yet. not here, not now. 

She hadn't earned the privilege to cry so early in.

"Thank you...I'll keep that in mind."

Whether Lilia believed her or not, she couldn't tell. He clapped his hands together with a smile

"My pleasure! Now, I believe beforehand you had mentioned meeting a "princely horned man" as you said?
In the words of a dear friend: "Spill the tea sis"

Hearing those words come out of the mouth of a 700 year old war veteran with a freakishly deep voice almost made her fall to her knees cackling.

After facing a crushing defeat between holding back her laughter and physically combusting on the spot.
She did nearly just that, only without falling to her knees, but holding her stomach for dear life.

The Vice was most definitely aiming for this reaction, as confirmed by a barely concealed grin across his face while he watched her laugh endlessly.

"Khee hee hee~, It seems that cheered you up. Though I would still like to hear about - Ah- we're here."

The decomposing manor looked as if it belonged in a Stephen King novel, doubled by the moon peeking out from behind the cracking roof.

Shattered windows and a long forgotten well stood out to her the most, doing anything but acknowledging the Graveyard two feet from her new living space.
Vines snaked up and around, joint together with briars in small helix twirls , some reaching around the large gargoyles resting just below chimney level.

"What an endearing little home, no?"

Upon spotting her mortified reaction, he piped up very quickly with an offer.

"Diasomnia has more then enough room to spare if you wish to change your mind on staying here now that you've seen it, child.
Im sure your ...horned acquaintance would just love to have you join us for the time being.
A new friend would be quite good for him..."

𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒖𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚

"I'm going to still give it a shot, but if worst comes to worst , I'll take you up on that offer."

Prying the gate open with after a decent struggle, she turned to say her goodbyes to the elder fae, only for him to have already waltzed past her, heading straight for the door, so she just opted to follow.

Aw they reached the door , Lilia turned to face her with a smile.

"I suppose I shall take my leave now.
It was an honor to meet you, and I hope to for us to meet again soon, Toodles!"

Waving with glee, his body glowed a brilliant magenta, turning into the shape of a small bat as he flew off into the darkness.

Building her courage, she took the nearly greened handle, and opened the door to Ramshackle

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈..

——————

The Bat wasn't fooled, unlike the human girl.

He knew they had been observed the entire time, the retainer was all too familiar with the feeling of a Dragon eyes watching him, especially after raising their owner.

Noticing the ever familiar chartreuse lights in the distance, he flew directly to his ward without a moments hesitation

Lilia made his landing on the young princes hiding spot, the Balcony of the astronomy tower , with a bow , a mischievous grin dancing across his face.

"My, My, I didn't expect you to have such a keen interest in witnessing my talent for guidance. Perhaps I should become a Tour guide?"

"Lilia, you know as well as I that is not why I was observing your journey."

"Alas, It was only a jest."

Humming to himself, the smaller of the two skipped on the granite rail, never a fear of falling crossing his mind.

"It seems the girl has caught your rapt attention quite rapidly, Hmm, that somewhat rhymes..., Anywho, care