Talyra considered this with the genuine interest of soone who had researched the topic and was prioritizing the key points.
"Druids don’t separate emotional connection from elental connection." She said, "For a standard elental practitioner, the emotional state affects the output level, but the connection itself is stable."
"For a druid, the connection and the emotion are the sa channel."
"Which ans," Rex said.
"Which ans that when she feels sothing for soone, her environnt responds to it," Talyra said. "She can’t fully control the response."
"She can moderate it. She can delay it. But it happens."
Rex frowned as he thought about what such a bond would an. "So, if she’s feeling a lot of emotions, the natural world around her could act in ways that are hard to predict, which could make her feelings stronger or even cause chaos."
"Yeah, sort of..." Talyra raised her thumb.
"I see... so..." Rex said, "...the flowers from this morning."
"Woven druid arrangents aren’t for show." Aisella said, "She wove them because she was feeling sothing she couldn’t put into words."
"They’re the physical form of an emotional state that doesn’t have another outlet."
"Heartmoss only grows where the natural energy is steady and calm," Rex said.
They both looked at him.
"How do you know?" both asked at the sa ti.
Rex said, "She told ."
"And she told you what it ant," Talyra said.
"She told the flowers grow where the energy is calm," Rex said. "She didn’t say what that ant for the person the flowers were for."
"It ans the person is a stable point," Aisella said, using the precise tone she reserved for important subjects that required clear understanding. "For a druid, a stable point within the natural energy of a space indicates that the person present is soone the natural energy has... accepted."
"Not chosen," she added, because she was Aisella and could not leave potential misinterpretation on the table. "Like, uh, accepted."
"So yeah, there’s a difference."
"And she wove those flowers," Rex said.
"Yes," Talyra said. "She did, and it seems like soon we’re going to have a sextuple date!"
"Oh, shut it, I can’t possibly fit in that many dates."
They walked for a mont in the silence that follows when people have expressed what they needed to say and are now allowing it all to settle in.
"Alright, it seems that the situation has settled," Rex said. "I need her close during the expedition."
"She’ll be there, and you’re probably going to see a lot of new things from her." "Talyra said, "She agreed to go because you were going."
"And of course, she’s going not because of Apollo... I an like... poor girl, it seems like Apollo isn’t really ready to have a relationship with soone other than human." Talyra facepald. "He’s a fool after all."
Rex didn’t say anything when she said that.
"You don’t have to manufacture anything," Aisella said. "Just be yourself when you are near her."
"The druid connection will do the rest, and of course, better watch out when you’re trying to lie to her."
Rex said, "You’re telling to be patient."
"I’m telling you to be consistent," Aisella said. "For Nerith, those are the sa thing."
They had co to the point on the periter path where they could go back to the main Academy building. Talyra stopped walking, which was her way of saying that the conversation was over.
She gave Rex the look she showed him when she wanted him to know she was proud of sothing she had done.
She said, "I took care of Apollo just like you would have."
Rex stared at her.
"Yes," he said. "You did."
Talyra gave Rex a tight hug, and Rex responded with a quick peck on her lips. He noticed that Aisella needed that kind of affection too, so he offered her the hug she needed along with a quick kiss on the lips.
They smiled like soone who had just gotten the recognition they had been working for, then she stood up straight and said, "I’ll see you at the east gate tomorrow," and walked back to the academy with Aisella next to her.
Rex watched them leave and thought about the expedition, Nerith, the Key to the Underlayer, and the problem it was supposed to solve.
The sun was setting in the west, and the city outside the Academy’s walls was engaging in its usual early evening activities, preparing for the next day.
Before dawn, Rex had tasks to complete.
...
At this ti of day, the roof of the Silver Rest possessed a unique quality not found at any other hour. The city transitioned from day to night, with harbor lights beginning to illuminate the waterfront while residential areas settled into their evening routines.
Rex stood at the edge, gazing at the city in which he had worked long enough to know all its essential details.
He reached inward and activated the avatar, which was set to replace him for the night. He confird that it was in his room, the door closed, creating an occupied atmosphere that discouraged anyone from knocking or investigating.
Then he reached into the mask.
The transformation into the Lustful Villain was distinct from the shapeshift into Xavier. It involved more than just a superficial change.
The transformation was a complete presentation shift, encompassing the mask, armor, posture, and voice. Each elent arrived together, creating the essence of a second identity that had been utilized enough to develop its own unique texture.
Rex checked it. And it was still the sa as he rembered.
"It has been a while since I used this form, and I hope that I t sothing new in the Underlayer because I’ll be spending the rest of my night there."
After admiring his form, he then teleported.
The location was four kiloters east of the city, beyond the cordon and the construction crews’ operational periter. It was an open area where the city’s light could not penetrate, and the night was a deep darkness that served as a reminder that darkness was the original state of existence.
He arrived there instantly on his feet.
The figure that was already there was smaller than he rembered, which was not because she had changed but because his reference point for her had been adjusted by several weeks of encounters with people whose presence occupied more physical space.
"I knew that you were going to et here..." Rex crossed his arms. "...Lilith."
Lilith Nocturne stood in the open ground, looking at him with the sa expression she had worn each ti they t since their first encounter in the streets of Aethelgard.
"M-Master..." Lilith’s expression turned sad. "I’m so glad to see you again..."
She was in her human disguise, which she maintained in open spaces as a matter of operational habit, and her hands were clasped in front of her with the quality of soone who had been waiting and had not decided in advance how they were going to receive what ca when the waiting ended.
"MASTER...!" She went down on her knees when she saw him. "I... AM...!"
Not hesitating. Imdiately, with the unmistakable determination of soone who had resolved what to do and acted without a second thought.
"...SORRRYYYY!!!" She apologized with all her heart.
"L-look... I know that..." she said, looking down at the ground between her hands, "...I let you down."
Rex noticed that her voice was steady, which was unusual for soone who was presenting themselves in this way.
"Speak clearly." Rex said in a threatening tone.
"The Thornmaze operation incident..." she said. "I couldn’t fully complete the mission you assigned to , I used resources that were not mine without authorization, and individuals who were not involved in the failure are still facing the consequences."
She stopped for a mont.
"I’m not going to tell you it won’t happen again," she said, "because I don’t know that it won’t!"
"What I can tell you is that I understand what I did, and I understand what it cost, and I want to be useful to you again."
She raised her face.
"Please, Master..." she said. "...give another chance to be useful again for you."
"It has been a while for ... to not stay by your side..."
Rex stared at her for a while.
The sincerity was real. He could read it in the sa way he read everything, which was by looking at the gap between what soone said and what their body was doing, and in Lilith’s case, there was no gap. The words, posture, and eyes all conveyed the sa ssage.
"Get the fuck up now," Rex told her and ignored her apology.
She stood up.
"I need to go to the Underlayer," Rex said. "And I need to do it tonight."
Lilith’s face changed to the one she used when she was getting an order and getting ready to carry it out.
"Is it urgent?" she asked.
"Yes," said Rex.
She did not ask why, which was one of the things Rex valued about Lilith when she was functioning correctly. She understood that so questions were for her own information rather than for the mission’s benefit, and she had the discipline to leave those questions where they belonged.
Lilith jumped happily. "Alright! Let’s go teleport to the underlayer noooooowwwww~!"
"It’s... TELEPORTATION TIEE~!"
"Move your ass up and hurry the FUCK up!"
"Hiiiii! Y-Yes, Master!"
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