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There was no way someone this cruel was Thys. The kettle weighed heavily in Viv’s hand, and for a moment she thought she should swing it—try to take this monster by surprise, stun it, hurt it, kill it if she had to. Not just let it win.

But no. The candle flame she felt trembling nearby, that delicate, faltering life, that had to be Thys. It might be pretty bad to let the creature escape, since it presumably had exactly what it wanted now, and besides, last time… it had taken part of Thys with it. 

But if there was still even the slightest of chances she could save the real Thys, she had to take that chance

She lowered her head, as if accepting that Thys was leaving her, and told the lanternfish, “If you leave now, Thys, don’t come back! I never want to see you again!”

“I don’t intend to return,” the lanternfish retorted, voice cool but somewhat pleased, and it pushed open those doors and strode through.

Viv watched it vanish into the darkness outside, her breath coming hard, almost strangling her.

And then she whirled, searching for that strange, new power inside her, trying to find where it led to. 

This wasn’t her power, it wasn’t something she could even do—or, at least, it hadn’t been until now. It felt familiar, felt alien, all at once. It was like, she thought, with a dying wish. Thys had sent whatever power they had left as a bequest—

No, Viv thought furiously. She couldn’t think that way. Whatever cause was behind her power now, she needed to use it, not mourn it.

She didn’t have her pendant with her, having left it up in the apartment, but technically any form of divination could work to track wherever this dying life was. She grabbed a pencil off the table next to the mail slots and held it loosely by the tip between two fingers, so it could rotate freely in any direction.

This was not a reliable method, usually. Usually, it was easy to get false results by accidentally putting pressure on it and forcing it to lean this or that way, or to simply have it rotate due to her own movement.

Usually.

This time, as she focused her energy on it, it almost leapt out of her fingers, tugging tangibly, as if something had grabbed the eraser and was pulling it.

Viv tightened her grip on it out of necessity—it felt like it was going to be pulled away from her if she didn’t—and followed the tug. It led her back to the elevator where, afraid of what she’d see inside but desperate to look, she pushed the button to open the door.

The power was still out. 

The lanternfish had, apparently, not bothered to turn it on again when they left—or simply hadn’t been gone long enough. Perhaps they were taking no chances that they could get trapped or followed. 

The elevator doors didn’t open.

“Fuck!”  Viv swore. She jammed the pencil into her bra to keep it available, and felt it tug against her sternum even though she wasn’t holding it in a proper divination form any longer. “I don’t have time for this!” she screamed at the elevator, and dug her fingers in between the two doors, hauling at them.

Slowly, they were pried open. Inside, it was dark, but she had no chance to worry that perhaps this was a trap that had been laid for her; if Thys was inside there, she needed to go. The pencil was pulling forward, the tip digging into her stomach, and she stepped through the doors. 

They stayed open for now, the lack of power to them keeping them from closing as much as it had kept them from opening. Fumbling, she dug the flashlight out of the pocket in her leggings—they were meant to be for yoga, and usually a phone or wallet would go there. She’d left both wallet and phone at the apartment, which wasn’t great if she found Thys and needed to get help fast, but at least she still had her flashlight.

Except that had been the side she’d fallen on. As she pushed the switch on its side, the light flickered slightly, but didn’t come on.

There was nobody else in the elevator, nobody she could see, but that didn’t mean anything, not with Thys. “Come on!” Viv begged, shaking the flashlight.

It went out entirely, and she almost shrieked. Tears were gathering in her eyes now, and her entire world came down to this light, how she needed it to work, how she needed to see, because if Thys was some moth dying somewhere, losing them because Viv couldn’t work a fucking flashlight would be the worst thing in the universe. She frantically thumbed the switch, shook it, pleaded, felt that broken floodgate in her swell like she was going to start screaming, sobbing, something, and then she pushed that feeling out of her body, and the light turned on.

All the lights turned on.

The one in her hand came on first: the flashlight not flickering into life but abruptly flaring brightly, too bright, more than the lightbulb inside it should have been able to manage. And then the elevator came on too, the lights popping on with an audible sound, even the buttons glowing almost unnaturally brightly. Then the lobby, too, flooded with light, and the light outside the doors lit up the entryway.

And she saw, briefly, before the elevator’s doors closed behind her, that all the lights in the apartment tower across the way had also come on all at once.

There was no time to think about that, though. The elevator was perfectly lit now, but she cast the beam of the flashlight around, letting the pencil’s pushing and tugging lead her to one wall.

She was looking for a fairly large moth. When previously, part of Thys had escaped and survived the lanternfish’s carnage, the moth’s spread wingspan had been larger than both her hands put together; when it had closed its wings, she’d been able to cup it in her hands, but only just.

There was no moth that size here, and she thought, well, the others she had seen torn up, those had been a more normal size. So she looked for that instead, and then smaller still, until she was angling her beam and looking for the tiniest bump, hoping to make Thys cast a shadow that would make them easier to see.

And finally, she saw it.

The moth was barely the length of her pinky nail. It wasn’t clinging to the wall, as Viv had hoped, but collapsed on the floor.

Even scooping it up might hurt Thys at that size. Viv could kill them accidentally with total ease. Terrified of that, she reached up to slam the second floor button, then pulled the pencil out of her bra and used the tip to gently lift the moth up.

It tumbled off almost immediately—please, please just be unconscious, Viv begged silently—but she got a hand underneath, catching it in her palm.

The lights were on in the second floor hall too, and several confused residents had stuck their heads out their doors, looking around as if they were trying to figure out what was going on. Viv ignored them, heading into Thys’s apartment and shutting the door. It was warded here; if that thing had any connection to Thys still, hopefully trying to save Thys here would keep the lanternfish unaware.

“Guard the door,” she told the cats. They didn’t even pretend not to understand her, heading over and taking up positions around it.

Viv gently tipped her hand, letting Thys fall onto the kitchen island, and stared down at the tiny moth. Power was throbbing in her chest still—how had turning on all the lights, and without even using a spell, not left her exhausted?—but she didn’t know what to do with it. 

She could phone for help, maybe. Isaac would know what to do, and she could follow his instructions.

But she wasn’t sure if she had the time. That candle flame of Thys’s life was guttering, and that sense of death was approaching. 

Viv felt like whatever she did, she had to do it quickly, or it would be the end.

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The warm water continued to stream over Vivian’s body, but despite it, she’d gone cold. With the bathroom door closed and the power out, she was unable to see a thing.

Panic rose and she swallowed it back purposefully. They’d expected this to happen at some point. But the apartment was warded; as long as they stayed inside, they’d be safe. They’d literally bought flashlights just for this purpose. 

It was going to be fine, she told herself as, with a trembling hand, she turned off the shower and fished outside it for a towel. Finding one with her fingertips, she dried herself off quickly and held the towel to her.

“Thys?” she called. “Can you bring a flashlight?”

No answer. Maybe, she told herself, Thys just didn’t hear her. After a moment of indecisive hesitation, she decided to put on the clothes she’d just discarded rather than her pajamas; she knew where she’d dropped them and, besides, if something was about to go down, she’d rather not be in PJs.

She dressed in record time, and while she was pretty sure her leggings were on backwards, there was no time to change it. It didn’t matter; if they rode a little low in the back, her sweater would cover it. Hair still wet and sticking to her, she flung open the bathroom door. “Thys?”

Still no answer. The living room outside was dimly lit from the windows—but dimly only, the blinds drawn, no candles yet lit. Viv found where she’d left one of the flashlights and turned it on, shining it around.

A sudden noise almost made her drop it, but it was just Notch, hissing and squinting in the sudden light. Except, she realized, Notch was in an aggressive stance; always the fighter of the three, he’d stepped in front of the other two cats, puffed up and arching, growling low. The other two were totally silent behind him, also puffed, in a lower, defensive crouch.

Shit. She scanned the room with her flashlight hurriedly. The couch was empty.

Her beam fell across the open front door and her hands went cold again.

No no no.  Why would Thys leave?! It didn’t make any sense! They had a plan! They’d stay in the apartment, where they’d be safe. If they had to leave it, they’d stay together and keep their flashlights on them. If they couldn’t stay together, Thys would dissolve into moths and leave by the window—not the door, not out into the hallways—while Viv, unable to do the same, would grab something heavy in case she had to fight, then run for the fire exit. The alarm going off would cause chaos in the building, and help their escape.

She couldn’t do that now, though, not when she didn’t know where Thys was. That was only a plan for if Thys had already gotten out and Viv wasn’t with them. If she did it now, the lanternfish might make off with Thys in the middle of the confusion.

So why would Thys abandon the plan like this— 

“The power thing, it sings to me. When the lights are on normally, it’s fine. But sometimes, they flicker, and it calls me. It calls, and it’s so hard not to answer. And when the light goes out, when it’s dark, I’m lost.”

Viv drew a sharp breath, then grabbed Thys’s kettle, freeing it from its base. It was surprisingly heavy, and had a handle, and was relatively safer to run with than grabbing a knife. In a pinch, she could hit something with it. There was no time to think about it further. She grabbed another flashlight off the kitchen counter and shoved it into her pocket, then ran out the door.

Whatever was hunting Thys had been toying with the power for a few weeks for a reason, she thought, furious at herself for not wondering about that sooner. Wearing down Thys’s resistance, maybe. Making the lure stronger and stronger. Or learning to control individual lights, individual wires, learning where to place the call, learning—something.  

A faint amount of light showed at the end of the hall—the elevator was still lit, and was open. The doors were, however, closing, and she could faintly see the silhouette of a person inside. Viv took off at a sprint, arms and legs pumping, but didn’t make it before the doors closed. 

Just before it did, she thought she saw the shadow of the person inside split, as if someone had stepped out from behind them.

Viv swore, slamming her finger bruisingly hard into the elevator button, hoping the elevator hadn’t yet left and the doors would open—before she realized that the buttons weren’t even lit. Whatever had allowed it to keep power had turned off; she could hear the elevator moving, but it was no longer summonable to this floor.  

“Fuck!”

Running down the stairs wasn’t the safest thing at the best of times, let alone barefoot, let alone in the darkness, let alone without using the rail since she had a flashlight in one hand and a kettle in the other, but Viv tore down them regardless, heedless of her own safety. She knew she was too slow; she’d lost precious time trying to get the elevator doors to open. 

She didn’t know for sure if that person in the elevator was Thys—not with how much time she’d wasted in the bathroom, in the apartment, but perhaps Thys was going slow, was fighting even while entranced— 

The connection to Thys vanished. That feeling of sharing space with someone was just abruptly, gone and Viv found she was alone as she fled down the stairs.

Her foot slipped. She managed to get her legs out in front of her as she fell, so she slid the last flight instead of tumbling. Even so, when she hit the ground floor, she pushed herself to her feet at once. Her ankle hurt, her knee hurt, her hip hurt, but they held her weight as she flung herself upright and through the doorway into the lobby.

Thys turned back from where she was opening the outside door, and sighed. “Oh, it’s you,” they said.

Viv was brought up short. They seemed—fine, every inch their actual self, and in her pain and fear and confusion all she could do was stare for a moment. “Thys…?”

“Listen. I thank you for your help,” Thys said, and curtsied, exactly as Viv had seem them do before, holding their wings out. “But your debt is repaid.”

“What are you even—”

“You can have my apartment if you want. It’s paid for. I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided to return to my people. I have duties. Responsibilities. They’re waiting for me. And I’ll be safe there. It can’t hunt me there.”

“B-but we—” It wasn’t real, Viv told herself. This had to be that lanternfish, that shapeshifter, trying to hurt her, distract her, something. But it looked so much like Thys, sounded like Thys. Talked like Thys. And she didn’t know Thys, she still didn’t really know them. The same person who spontaneously decided to marry a stranger just for rescuing a moth and offering it sugar water could surely withdraw it the moment another spontaneous decision occurred.

And it wasn’t as if this Thys—the lanternfish? The real Thys?—was wrong. If it was the real Thys, they’d be safe if they went through the gate, safe with their own people. 

And if it wasn’t the real Thys, should she let on that she knew? If the real Thys were already dead, could Viv even take this creature in a fight? She wasn’t sure, both because she knew she was outmatched, and because she didn’t know that she could hurt something wearing Thys’s face. 

If it was the lanternfish, could she afford to let it go? But if it was the real Thys, could she do anything but?

Her heart ached. It ached, and it pined, and she found herself straining inside herself, desperate for that sense of connection again, like something inside her was beating at its cage, wings in her chest slamming against its bounds like something inside her had grown too huge to contain.

“Well. Again, I thank you,” Thys said, and turned, pushing on the doors out. “Goodbye, Viv.”

And suddenly, the cage burst. She couldn’t breathe, panic and fear and swelling power inside her. And through it all, she realized she could feel someone dying nearby, in the other direction from Thys. They were right at the edge. It was as if she had been born simply to sense encroaching death, that was how certain she was. It was a trembling candle flame, guttering in its own wax.

And she knew if she didn’t find it in time, it might go out.

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That knot of anxiety unwound even further, finally taking the shame with it. Viv knew it would be back later, when she had space and time to think about it—but for now, she was simply grateful to be able to breathe again.

She felt… a little more confident, she decided. If not with herself, not exactly, with their ability to try to support each other. 

And supporting each other right now meant…

“We should talk to Isaac right now,” Viv said firmly. “We want to talk to some other witches anyway, and it’s honestly most important to make sure that your health isn’t failing. If you bleed out from this energy thing, the lanternfish doesn’t even have to hunt you down, right?”

“Hmm. That’s a way to put it,” Thys agreed dubiously.

Viv squeezed their hand, then wound their fingers together, interlocking them. “This is all about taking care of you. If it’s not normal that you’re still draining like this, he may be able to do something about it. And if it is normal, then we know that. AND he can maybe help get us the spell we need. Involving Varsha can wait until tomorrow.”

“You have convinced me,” Thys said with a solemnity that was belied by the sparkle in their eyes. They pulled out their phone. “I don’t want you to let go. But I should call, then.”

It was convenient that Thys had Isaac’s number, Viv realized, or at least knew where to look it up. Otherwise they’d be sent on another runaround to get back in contact with the Good Neighbours. 

But that wasn’t necessary—Thys called, stepping away to explain to Isaac quickly that they were still not feeling well, and that the drain was still happening, and also, they could use some magical consultation. Thys listened briefly to his response, then said, “We can do that. We’ll be there,” and hung up.

“Well?” Viv asked.

“He sounded concerned. He agreed to see us tonight—one of his patients cancelled, so he said if we could get there within the hour, he’d see us. His clinic’s nearer to the gate but isn’t so far, so if we go now, we can make it.” Thys made a shooing gesture, and started walking.

Viv nodded, falling into step beside them. “I’d figured as much with how fast he arrived at the pub. Should we bus?”

“Oh, no thank you. I hate buses. They make me ill,” Thys said. “It’s only a twenty minute walk. It should be fine.”

“Sounds good.” At least Viv had always liked walking, since she was doing a whole lot of it. “So, can I ask what kind of music you do? I heard you practicing last night…”

“Oh.” Thys sounded pleased to be asked. “Well, you know I sing and play guitar. I’d say it’s… folksy but, hm. I try to capture the wild feeling inside me with it. Longing, and loss, sensuality and struggle…”

“I got a sort of a Florence or Hozier feel from what I overheard?”

Thys stuck that narrow tongue out at Viv. “Rude, to compare me to others of my kind, but yes. I suppose we’re all struggling to reach the same thing.”

Viv laughed a little. “Any crazy fans? It’d be sort of funny if this lanternfish was one. I mean, sort of like Misery, but, you know, ironic funny?”

“I haven’t received any disturbing fan mail, if that’s what you mean,” Thys said. “I suppose I’d better make myself more popular so I get a normal stalker next time.”

“I guess,” Viv said wryly. “I’d like to hear some of your music! Maybe the stalker could be me.”

“Well, with luck, you may attend any of my concerts as my guest, which would make me very easy to stalk.” Thys teased.

Feeling her cheeks flush, Viv ducked her head. She knew what Thys was getting at: as the wife, she’d hardly have to ask for tickets.

It was still too strange to think about. Sort of nice, though. If this could work, wouldn’t it be lovely to have something… something reliable?

As she looked up again, whatever maudlin, awkward thing she was going to say died on her lips. “Oh, hey, a corner store.”

“…Yes?”

“We should buy flashlights. It won’t take long. I don’t have any battery-operated lights or anything that we could use. But with flashlights, if the power goes out, we’ll always have some kind of light source.”

“Oh, a good plan!” Thys exclaimed. “I have candles, but otherwise, everything I have is plugged in.”

They took a quick detour to do that, and, feeling a little better armed, headed the rest of the way to Isaac’s. It was a simple clinic as part of a strip mall that also included a vacuum cleaner store and some kind of bakery, something called Loaf Portions.

Isaac met them in the waiting room, nodding to his receptionist; presumably he’d explained the situation, because the receptionist, a black woman with what looked like stars in her hair, just gave them a smile and waved them to go along with him.

The office looked like any medical office that Viv had been in, albeit with additional unguents and strange jarred items on the desk. Isaac asked Thys, “Are you okay with her being in here with you?”

“I’d prefer it, thank you,” Thys said lightly.

“Very well.”

Viv sat in the spare chair as Isaac gave Thys a basic examination—eyes, ears, throat, and listened to their heart with a device that didn’t look like a standard stethoscope. He pulled out a pair of glasses with magic circles etched into their lenses—the same that he had built around their body, Viv thought, or at least similar—and looked Thys over with them.

“You’re right,” he said finally. “You’re continuing to drain away and not be restored, and the reason you’re stable is that Miss Dormer is replenishing you as fast as her own energy refills. So you are both somewhat under the weather but have established something of an equilibrium.”

“That’s not as you expected,” Thys said.

“No. I’d suspect that some part of you was being… kept by your attacker, perhaps, so that it may feed off you instead of just letting that part die.” Isaac frowned. “I can’t imagine a situation where that’s necessary, rather than cruel. Now, I can’t ward you against it, but what I can do is…cut your connection to any part of you that is separate. You’re in one body right now, yes? No additional moths?”

“I don’t believe so,” Thys said, brows furrowed. 

“Then, with your permission, I’ll do so. I’ll have to cut your connection with Miss Dormer momentarily, but I can reconnect it after.”

Thys turned to look at Viv, and Viv realized with a start that they were asking permission. “Oh. Yeah, sure! I mean, of course. It was going to disconnect when Thys was healthy again anyway, right? So.”

“Ah.” Thys’s tone was hard to read, but they turned mild, guileless eyes back on Isaac. “Then you have my consent as well.”

And a moment later, Viv was alone. 

It… hurt. Not physically, and there was no actual sensation to it, but her heart ached. That sense of someone else’s feelings nearby had been like living in a home and hearing someone you loved going about their life in another room. And now it was gone. It was just her, alone, unwanted.

She drew a sharp breath, and then the sensation was back, that steady, alien comfort of Thys’s presence.

“There,” Isaac said. “You should replenish from here on out, but if you’re not improving by tomorrow night, call me again and I’ll make room for you because that will be very concerning.”

“Of course,” Thys said. They sounded pleased—weirdly smug, even. “Thank you. There was one more thing.”

“Yes?” Isaac lifted a brow.

Thys turned to Viv again. “Right,” Viv said. “So, this thing that attacked Thys, we think it might come back. We’re hoping to get a spell that we can trigger which will flood the immediate area with total light—we want to eliminate all shadows. We’ve, uh, heard it can help. Can you do that? Or do you know someone who can?”

“It’s not my specialty,” Isaac admitted. “But I’m joining the Twilight Counsel for a meeting tonight, and I can put in a request. It should be simple enough for someone who focuses more on light manipulation, so I can’t imagine it will cost too much. I can get someone to bring it to you tomorrow, I’m sure. Sooner, if you call and it’s an emergency.”

“We’ll pay whatever we have to,” Viv said, though if it did cost too much, she could only hope her aunt wouldn’t find out. “I promise.”

“Well, your word’s good enough for me,” Isaac said gently. He made a few notes on a file, then held it out. “Can you take this to Natalie out front for me?”

Thys took it. “Thank you, Isaac,” they said. “I appreciate it.”

“Of course. Please take care.”

They headed back out to reception, where Thys handed over their file and their health card for the receptionist to note, then headed outside..

“How’re you feeling?” Viv ventured.

“I’d say that I feel better already,” Thys said, “but I’m not sure if it’s my imagination. Now what?”

Viv hesitated, then took Thys’s hand again. It felt better, holding hands. “Let’s go back home. With all the warding, we’ll be safe if we stay in the apartment, and if this thing is more active at night, better to stay inside with all the lights on. Will you be able to sleep?”

“It’s not my nature, but as long as we wrap it up within a few nights, it won’t leave me too tired,” Thys said, tightening their grip on Viv’s hand. “That’s fine.”

They headed back to the apartment just as it began to get dark, and Viv couldn’t help but feel as if they’d dodged a bullet somehow. She stopped in her own apartment to get fresh pajamas and a pair of clothes for tomorrow, and then they headed to Thys’s apartment, where they were almost mugged by all three cats. Even gentle kitten Pebbles was getting in on the climb and scream train.

“Oh, they do miss you,” Thys said, laughing.

“Sorry, I should have warned you,” Viv said. “They always do this. I’ll feed them and—do you mind if I shower?”

Thys waved a hand. They seemed more confident somehow, maybe due to their energy returning. Viv hoped so. “Oh, do go ahead. Then we can figure out sleep arrangements, perhaps?”

Their voice had dropped at the end, teasing, and Viv felt her face heat up. “Right! Yeah, okay,” she squeaked, and shut herself in the bathroom.

It was hard not to get excited by that, though, and her hands were trembling a little as she undressed, looking at herself in the mirror. She flushed more at the sight of her nude body, imagining Thys looking at her too, touching her, and ducked in the shower.

As she washed her hair, feeling the suds trickle over her like fingers, she couldn’t help but fantasize that Thys would decide to join her in the shower. What would she do if Thys did? Viv wondered, heart beating fast. She closed her eyes, biting her lower lip, and tilted her face up into the spray, imagining that moment. She wouldn’t turn Thys away now. She wanted this far too much.

If the power flickered, she missed it.

But when she opened her eyes again, it was pitch black in the bathroom.

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[Previous Day: Day Seventeen | Next Day: Day Nineteen]

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Anxiety was rising in Viv, shame churning in her gut, choking her as firmly as hands around her throat. She knew she had to calm down and breathe, she knew she had to get this back under control for both their sakes—if this continued as things were with Thys, they’d be furious with each other at the end, she knew they would be. 

It was just like how things had been with Reese.

She could imagine that disapproval growing, imagine the cold disgust with which Thys would treat her after this. That she, someone fundamentally useless, thought she had the right to set terms, make demands, ask for things like communication as if it was easy. She hardly had to imagine her own hysterical screaming in return, hardly had to make up how the fight would escalate. The memories of it were almost drowning her.

But—  

But she wasn’t ready to be married! She wasn’t ready! She didn’t know Thys, that was the whole point of having to ask them things at all, if she knew Thys already then this wouldn’t be a problem! 

“I, I want,” she tried to get out, but her voice was too high, her teeth were chattering, tears were welling in her eyes.

Thys… blinked. Some of their tall, stiff posture seemed to melt away, their brows creasing in visible confusion. “Viv? What…”

“I just, I just got out of a relationship, it was really bad, everyone hates me now.” She could hear herself babbling, tried desperately to get it back under control. “They couldn’t stand to have me around, not at all, I got sent here in exile b-because they couldn’t, and, I, I just, I don’t know how to be good to you, I don’t know if I’m ready, I didn’t mean—”

Oh no. She was worrying Thys now, she could tell. Thys had reached out to her, caught her by an elbow to stop her from hugging herself so hard that her nails were dragging at her sweater. 

Viv tried to breathe, tried to loosen her own grip on herself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“I think,” Thys said slowly, with audible alarm, “that I am beginning to see that.”

Thys’s lack of anger helped unspiral the anxiety. Guilt came in behind it; she hated getting like this, and she scrubbed at her own face with her hands, furiously. Thys pulled those away too, as if worried that Viv was clawing at her skin. “I’m okay, sorry. Sorry. I just. I really did just get out of a bad relationship. I just wanted to help you, and I like you, and I understand fae do things differently, I just didn’t realize. I didn’t mean to dis…to disrespect you—”

“I see that, too,” Thys said. “Hush. Hush.” 

They pulled Viv into an embrace, and Viv let herself cry despite the guilt, hot tears that scalded her face in the cold air outside. People were staring at them, she knew they were, but she couldn’t stop it from happening, so she just cried until that knot unwound further, and then put her arms around Thys in return. Thys felt delicate under her embrace, as though their skin was fragile, even though Viv knew how strong they were.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to be your betrothed,” Viv managed, finally, when she’d cried enough that only shame was left behind. “I just. I only just met you. And things can go so bad even when you do know someone. I don’t even know what I did that got us betrothed.”

“I don’t do things like humans do,” Thys said softly. “You saved me, then offered yourself to me, and the moment I accepted it from you, I was yours. I am yours. You could break this betrothal now, if you wished. But…”

Viv managed to pull back. Her nose was so stuffy that her cheeks hurt, sinuses backed up way too far. “But?” she asked weakly.

Thys smiled and tucked some of Viv’s hair behind an ear. “If you wish to try, we do not need to marry immediately. We can be betrothed for a time and see how that is.”

It was completely unbelievable. Yet— 

Viv had to admit it was happening. She let out a wet giggle, said, “Sorry,” again, and then just nodded. “Okay,” she said. “…Okay. I do want to try being with you. But if I’m… bad at it… I want an out.”

“I am,” Thys said delicately, and then hesitated, before finally pulling a scrunched-up, annoyed face. “I am one of the fae. We do not handle well our gifts being rejected, nor our hospitality ignored.”

“Who does?” Viv mumbled.

“Perhaps so,” Thys said, with a sigh. “I will try to understand. If we are different, then we must work harder. Yes?”

“Yes,” Viv said. She reached out and snagged their hand. “I’m so sorry I did this, I didn’t mean—”

Thys lifted their free hand and tapped Viv’s lips. “No more of that,” they said gently. “You have your reasons. I have mine. Let’s respect that.”

It was so hard to respect herself for this, but arguing would make things worse. Viv just nodded, and took a few moments to breathe. “So,” she said. “So. I… in the name of respecting. I still think I need to know about your past but, I… I really want to consider your feelings. I don’t want to hurt you again, or make you feel…rejected? Keep in mind I don’t mean to.”

“I’ll try. I will try,” Thys said. “Just know that I, too, can react sometimes.”

“That’s fair,” Viv said. Holding Thys’s hand tight, she tried to remember what she’d wanted to ask, the things that seemed relevant. “Are you reluctant to talk about these things because of… is it dangerous to you? I only want to know things you are willing or able to talk about…”

Thys shook their head, a rueful smile on their lips. “Oh, no! No. No danger. I simply don’t want to. The present is here holding my hand. I have no desire to think of things I have left behind me. And we do not like to be made to do things we do not desire.”

Viv let out another weak giggle. “Again, who does?”

“Perhaps so,” Thys repeated, but they were smiling still, more relaxed now. 

“Okay,” Viv said. She took another deep breath. “Keep in mind I’m just trying to figure out the… the victim profile? Why this lanternfish is chasing you. So not all my questions might seem to be related, and if you really think I don’t need to know, you can tell me.”

“That’s fair,” Thys said. And then, almost coaxingly, “That is kind. It’s a beautiful compromise.”

Viv sort of shrugged. Beautiful, huh. “Okay. So. You’re supposed to lead an army? Against what enemy?”

“No specific enemy,” Thys said. They were still looking at Viv tenderly, still holding her hand carefully, as if having realized Viv was fragile, but their voice grew cooler as they talked of it. “It is not that we are at war, though the fae have had wars in the past, and peace treaties, and so on. But I am of a rank that if it is decided by the Courts that we should go to war, I would be expected to draw from my lands to gather an army and to lead it in what we do.”

That was interesting. It built a picture of Thys as some sort of noble who was a vassal to a higher power. Viv was reminded of feudal power hierarchies, where the king would grant land to his nobles or knights, and they in turn would oversee the people who lived on and worked that land, but if the king said jump, they had to jump nevertheless. 

Then again, Thys hadn’t said that, and Viv knew she couldn’t assume. Still, she didn’t want to ask directly if it was exactly like that—if Thys had wanted to say it, they’d have given their rank or whatever—so she took a different tack. “Why would you be unable to escape?”

“It’s smothering. I am in an odd position where I am… powerful. I had access to an army, if I needed it. I had lands at my fingertips to rule over. And yet I was a spoiled pet to those more powerful than me. I was expected to always do what was expected, and do it for them. And so I ran away. I took advantage of them not thinking I would do so, but I would not be able to fool them twice.”

“You don’t have the right to say no?”

“Few people do, with the fae,” Thys said.

Given that Viv had become betrothed without meaning to, she could see that. “What did they want you for?”

“I am a good singer. I am lovely to look at. I can sense disaster, which is a powerful boon to the Court. And I was raised to rank and power, so it is just what was expected. If I returned, I would be chided for my rebellion, and praised for my return, and then reinstated with power to do whatever I wished except leave.”

“If you could raise an army, could they really stop you from leaving?”

Thys said, “I am not sure I would make it come to a civil war that others would fight and die for so that I could have my own autonomy.”

That was…fair enough. Viv swallowed. “I… I don’t think I have any other specific questions,” she said. “Dandelion gave me an idea of your powers, so I won’t ask further about that; if you have something that’s useful, I imagine you’d say. But… do you know what the lanternfish wants from you?”

“I don’t know,” Thys said softly. “Out here, I’m but an extremely minor celebrity with a small fan following. I like it that way. So I don’t know why I would be a target. If the lanternfish were fae, I would think they were envious of what I gave up, or angry if I made things more inconvenient for them. But it isn’t one, so I don’t see how those things could be relevant.”

“Okay,” Viv said. She squeezed Thys’s hand again. “That’s it. I don’t think I have any other questions…”

Thys’s brow creased. Hesitantly, they said, “I had been going to bind you to ask your questions here or not at all. But… I suppose… if you need to know me to love me, that would be an ill-fated thing I would do to us. If you think of something you must ask later, I will… try to remember, and be kind enough to answer.”

Tears prickled in Viv’s eyes again.

“Oh. Oh no,” Thys said. “You’re doing it again. It’s happening.”

Viv burst into a giggle and scrubbed at her eyes. She had a tear-headache and her mouth tasted terrible. “No, I was just happy. You’re being very kind even though I was so unreasonable.”

“Was it unreasonable…?”

“Anyway,” Viv said, voice shaking slightly, “we should figure out what we do with the rest of our day. It’ll be evening soon and I don’t know if the lanternfish will act once it’s dark. We were told it was stronger in the dark. If we want to not bring new people in, Varsha might be able to help with scent if needed? Snakes have a good sense of smell, and she’s your friend, and lives in the same building that this thing is hunting us in. So… that might be an option.”

“Oh!” Thys seemed to straighten. “That’s a clever idea. I think you’re right, she might be good if we need that.”

“And otherwise? I think we should try to track down Isaac. I can try to use him to get connected to the Council. Maybe we can get a spell that can get triggered which can fully light an area. If I can carry it in my pocket, we don’t need to involve someone else. Powerful witches can enchant items for other people to use, even if they can’t cast spells.” Like me, she thought with only a small amount of self-loathing.

Thys nodded. “…It might be good to see if the healing is proceeding as expected, too. However, what should we do first, my sweet? Isaac was on call last night, but I believe he usually works days, so he may be unavailable if we do not act soon. Yet Varsha may too be unavailable soon, since she’ll start work in the evening. So… we should decide fast which we should go to see, if we need to get it done before night falls.” 

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Try not to worry about this thing between yourself and Thys, Viv reminded herself desperately. This was nice right now, inasmuch as having someone with her who was being hunted down was able to be ‘nice’. She shouldn’t sweat the small stuff like…whatever the strange implications were of Thys perhaps being a ‘fairy lover’ to her.

She wasn’t able to convince herself. They needed to talk. 

Soon.

“I think,” Viv said slowly, “that step one is going to be figuring out what they want you for. Step two is finding someone with scent-based powers, and step three is finding a place that we can flood with light. Right? So we can either corner them to fight or negotiate.”

“I suppose so,” Thys agreed. For once, they seemed nervous, and it occurred to Viv that maybe Thys should be more nervous than they’d seemed so far—after all, Thys was the one being hunted down here. But ever since they’d recovered, they’d sort of been treating this as a fun adventure.

Then again, they were one of the fair folk. Maybe this just felt different to someone with such a long lifespan. And even Viv had to admit that there were things she, too, was enjoying in this. 

Viv drew a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “So. We can get into step one in a moment but unless you already know why it’s doing this, trying to prep for a confrontation is something we can do regardless of motive, so we can kind of skip it for now.”

“Does that truly make it step one?”

“Let’s focus here,” Viv said, bringing her hands together in a brief clap. “Scent. We know there are local lycanthrope hideouts. I think it’s pretty strongly implied that maybe the werecats gather in the skate park—Yasmin might even be one, come to think of it, though I don’t know if we can be sure without asking.”

“The skate park,” Thys said, amazed. “Do cats like skateboards?”

“Dubious, but it’s a known fact a lot of cats hang out there, and we were already told that werecats called our neighbourhood home. And Yasmin told me that the dog park has gathered what she considers a bad crowd, which is probably weredogs. I think we’re more likely to have an in with werecats rather than dogs anyway, unless you’ve got some contacts with them.”

Thys tilted their head. “…And why is that?”

“…I like cats,” Viv answered weakly. “And I understand cats. I don’t really get dogs, you know?”

Thys nodded blankly. “Okay.”

She tried not to feel embarrassed. “Anyway! That’s—that’s an option. I don’t know what we could offer them—but I mean, Yasmin seemed nice.” Hot, too. And cool. Maybe she shouldn’t be thinking that with Thys here, though. No, she reminded herself, focus. “That said, I don’t know if we can rely on the kindness of strangers. Do you know any lycanthropes?”

“I don’t… I keep to myself, mostly,” Thys said. “I don’t know many people outside of the pub scene. Some of them might be lycanthropes but… I wouldn’t know. I could also ask if any of my fans are? But then we, ah. We are relying, again, on the kindness of total strangers. As you said, that’s untrustworthy. Especially if I am being hunted.” They swayed back and forth on their feet, sticking their hands in their pockets.

“Okay, well,” Viv said, “we could still try the skate park, then.”

“Yes,” Thys said. “I think, if we plan on relying on scent, we can do that, but we might want to be cautious with that. We can’t rely on our own sense of scent. And bringing others in may put them at risk.”

Viv’s blood chilled. She hadn’t thought of that. Whatever was hunting Thys now could hunt a kindly stranger just as easily—or a friend. If someone were so actively involved that the lanternfish took notice, and that person got …taken over? Copied? Swapped out while they were still relying on them, they might end up not just losing a friend but feeding information to the enemy.

“So we can do that, but perhaps, we should make contacts cautiously, make sure they are not openly involved until we need them,” Thys finished. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go and explore our options. We may still need those contacts. Just, well, we need to be aware.”

“We do,” Viv said, trying to unknot the clenching anxiety in her chest. “…I do think were-cats might be a good angle, and I’m not against us going to the skate park and making initial contacts, seeing if we can get help when the time comes, but… you’re right we should consider other options too. My divination isn’t strong, but maybe I can… use dowsing or something to figure out if someone is who I think they are. Who they’re presenting as.”

“Perhaps this is strange, coming from me, who has become so reliant on you,” Thys said, “but sometimes we’re safest by ourselves.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Viv said. She had to be careful not to get too paranoid or isolated either—presumably this creature could only pretend to be one person at a time; there might be an angle in that which they could make use of. “I understand your fears, but let’s not worry just yet about that, since there’s no sign it’s happening, and we can be careful not to bring in people who would get caught unawares. Light, then. Do you know a place? Or, we could ask Dandelion…”

Thys pulled a hand out of their pocket and put it on Viv’s arm, squeezing gently. “I don’t think that there is any place that can be flooded completely, to remove all shadows, without a lot of preparation or without involving magic,” they said. “Dandelion might have some idea, like… a music video set or something, where you can get lighting at all angles and from below as well. But most places that can be flooded will have some shadows. Football stadiums or whatnot, they’ll be lit from above, and have plenty of places with shadow.”

“Music video set might be an option, come to think of it,” Viv said. “I don’t know how we’d lure an enemy into one when they can just wait forever until we come out, though. I think… that’d come back to negotiation. Anyway, it might be easier to just get hold of a witch who can actually just… abruptly lighten the area. Or a fae who can do likewise with glamour. Less suspicious.”

“You’re right,” Thys said. They glanced at the sidewalk behind the two of them, where the afternoon shadows were starting to lengthen. “I don’t even know if the lanternfish is following us or not. Either way, it will begin to get dark in a couple hours.”

Viv felt a faint chill at the thought, which she was very sure wasn’t actually a non-sequitur. “Yeah,” she said. “I don’t know. Anyway, we’re back to step one.”

“A circular route to the first step,” Thys said playfully.

Viv wanted to respond in kind, but didn’t let herself. “We need to talk.”

Thys blinked. Slowly, their smile faded. “Do we?”

“We need to know why you might be wanted. Why you specifically were targeted, after you started making public appearances. If we can figure out what they want, we can figure out whether we have any way to negotiate, or if there’s no chance but to attack.” Viv took a deep breath. “But right now, I know pretty much nothing about you.”

Thys seemed to grow smaller, somehow. They wrapped their wings around themselves, as if the drizzling cold was finally getting to them, and hunched into their form, both hands in their pockets again. “Ah. It’s come to this.”

“I mean… it’s great that you’re some kind of…” Manic pixie dream pixie, Viv managed to keep herself from saying. “You’re like a dream. Strange, mysterious, intriguing, beautiful… sweet.”

Thys’s cheeks colored. “Oh.”

“But you’ve implied you have some kind of situation back home, and despite that, you’re here in Branwin. You’ve referred to refusing to take command and lead an army. You’ve mentioned having no escape if you returned, despite that. This creature isn’t fae, or I think Lithway would have said, but if you’re specifically being targeted, it has to be something about you, what you can do, the people you know, something.” She drew a breath. “So, please. Tell me.”

“I don’t want to,” Thys muttered.

“I want you to,” Viv countered. Something in her, something so recently injured, was aching, feeling like it was going to split. “We have… something between us, right? Communication is important. I need to know what… what I’ve got myself into.”

“Something between us?” Thys repeated incredulously. They straightened, their dark eyes seeming to widen almost too far, taking up too much of their face. “Something? Am I not yours? Did you not give yourself to me so that I may give myself to you? Am I not your betrothed?”

The world swam for a minute. Focus, Viv thought, in a faint panic. Focus! She couldn’t. This was too much confirmation, and she was afraid. “Betrothed?”

“Am I not?!” Thys seemed somewhere between despair and anger now. “Fine. Ask what you wish. I cannot lie. But I do not want to talk about it, so what I answer will depend on the specific questions you ask me.”

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