Chapter 187: Lily’s findings

After their eventful day, Claire was happy that her mother didn’t give her too much grief since Ursa had joined them for dinner. The last thing Claire needed right now was her mother being angry. That would make the minor headache she had far worse. Though Eve’s chipper mood was probably because of her and Jane’s adventure last night.

That thought was dangerous.

Claire had to avoid actively thinking about that subject, or else her mind would run wild. She wanted to keep her mothers’ innocence for a little while longer. But that didn’t stop Ursa from stealing glances at Claire’s mother. She thanked the Goddess that Jane was doing the same thing. It could have been bad if Ursa had been caught stealing glances.

Claire’s fatigue quickly took over after finishing. It was hard for her to stay awake with a full stomach, so Ursa had to carry her back to bed. It was the only time Eve’s mood soured. Claire swore she saw her mother’s eye twitch. She ignored it since she got to enjoy being carried by Ursa. She fell asleep long before Ursa lay her in bed; sleep claimed her the moment they made it up the stairs.

Yet again, Claire was surprised to wake up the next morning with no dream from her Goddess. The ritual must have exhausted Her as well. She’d have to ask the Goddess about it the next time she did see Her. She awoke in Ursa’s arms just as tired as she was the previous night.

She leaned on Ursa all the way back to the Bree tavern. She wanted to discuss with Toni what Anka had told her. It would be best to get his opinion on what She said. She wasn’t expecting Lily to answer the door when the two of them knocked on Toni’s door.

Lily opened the door, her hair disheveled and several hickies covering her neck. She greeted the two with a hoarse voice, “Good morning.”

Claire smiled at Lily. It was nice to see her lovers getting along. Plus, she hadn’t got much time with Lily yet. “Hey, did they drag you back here yesterday?”

Lily nodded weakly. She glanced back at the two still snuggling in bed. “Toni looked like he needed medical attention. Hannah was a nice bonus…”

Claire chuckled softly. It was nice to have Lily here, too, since her insight would be helpful. Plus, they still had to discuss what she discovered in Fyre. “May we come in?”

Lily nodded weakly. She opened the door wider, letting the two inside. She sauntered back to the bed before crawling under the covers. She snuggled up to Toni, causing him to stir. He let out a groan upon opening his eyes.

He rubbed his temples as he slowly woke up. The Divine Fatigue was still deeply affecting him. He let out a hoarse greeting, “Good morning, Claire. Ursa.”

“You doing okay?” Claire asked as Ursa gently set her down on one of the chairs.

“No…” Toni muttered. He strained to keep his eyes open despite the pain. “I-I’ll manage, I think.”

“Nonsense,” Claire smiled. She looked at Ursa. “Grab Ana. She should be able to heal his fatigue.”

Ursa’s pupils flared. She nodded before swiftly exiting the room. Claire couldn’t help but laugh upon seeing her react to being commanded.

“Before she gets back, I’d like to discuss what happened yesterday,” Claire said in a soft voice. Toni’s eyes widened, and a small smile appeared on his face. “Not the fun part. I want to talk about channeling Anka.”

“Oh, right,” Toni mumbled. He shifted in his lover’s grip. “That was the first time She’d done that…”

“I figured,” Claire nodded. “Do you remember any of it?”

Toni shook his head weakly. The movement strained his throbbing headache. “Anka told me in a dream…” “Does She do that often?” Claire asked. She’d been curious how similar the Bestowed was to her position.

Again, he lightly shook his head. “She’d only done it once before… when she wanted me to travel.”

“Interesting…” Claire rubbed her chin. “Any thoughts, Lily?”

“Mmm, hard to say.” Lily whispered. Her eyes were closed as she nuzzled into the dancer. “Would need to hear what Anka discussed with you.”

“Samira will find us,” Claire said matter-of-factly. Lily’s eyes shot open, and she nearly stumbled out of bed. “And, the Goddess was grateful for completing the ritual.”

“Wait, really?” Lily nearly shouted. She covered her mouth and glanced back at Toni. Hannah stirred in her sleep and Toni gave her a weak smile. “Sorry, Toni.”

“It’s okay,” Toni whispered. He felt a warm magic envelop him that began to ease his pain. Claire’s aura was soothing the soreness he had. “I know Samira is quite important.”

“Yeah, so is Ryley, it seems…” Claire muttered.

Toni tensed up before nodding. He didn’t want to bring that part up. Hannah’s grip on him tightened. The knight could sense his mood change even in her sleep.

“Were you given any extra information from Anka?” Claire continued. “Like specifics on why they specifically are needed?”

“No, unfortunately,” Toni muttered. He exhaled slowly as he recalled his dream. “Anka enjoys being vague. Said it would be more fun for us to figure it out…”

“Course,” Claire nodded. “The Gods can’t be too direct.”

“You can say that again,” Hannah mumbled as she stirred. “Alice would rant about the shit Anka made them do.”

Claire chuckled. It’d be nice to meet Alice again, too. She only got a few moments with the woman, but she seemed to have a positive effect on Jasmine. “I can see why.”

“Oh, right!” Lily blinked. She had forgotten she was supposed to report on what she found in Fyre. “It’s off topic, but I was able to discover some new information.” “Mhmm,” Claire gestured for Lily to come closer. The alchemist sat upon Claire’s lap and wrapped her arms around the paladin’s neck. “Unless Toni has any more information that you can give us.”

Toni tilted his head and rubbed his chin. The gesture was quite cute and caused the two women to squirm. He shook his head after a moment. “The only other thing She talked about was my new size. Said She wanted one of her own…”

Claire tilted her head. “Was that even possible?”

“Hypothetically, Her influence could affect other Gods,” Lily whispered to Claire. “Marcellus guided the slain Gods to the afterlife. And there are other instances of other Gods being affected by another divine influence.”

“Is that what you discovered in Fyre?” Claire asked.

Lily shook her head. “That’s just from a deeper look into Theology. You’ll find many instances of Anka’s beauty affecting male Gods.”

“Ah,” Claire said with a slight smile. “Should have paid more attention in that class.”

“How would you know you’d need it this badly?” Lily asked with a chuckle. “Besides, that’s why you have me.”

“True!” Claire said before squeezing Lily tightly. The alchemist let out a groan, her body was still sore from her time with Hannah.

“Um, back to what I discovered,” Lily said after clearing her throat. “Thanks to Fyre’s policy on uncovering the truth, I was able to find something that was covered up. It took some digging and quite a bit of gold, but I was guided to a section of the College with restricted information.”

“Please tell me you found something useful.” Claire pleaded.

“I did,” Lily smiled. She took a deep breath before going over the more digestible information. “Firewater and Silkie were depicted as humans within the art I found. I can show you when we get back to my lab.”

A shiver went down Claire’s spine. She felt a chilling sensation fill her body quickly after. It was confirmation of a theory they had been discussing. “Okay. That makes more sense with how they acted… but it sounds like there’s more.”

Lily nodded. She glanced at the door that swung open. Ursa, Elsie and Ana funneled into the room. The younger twin quickly got to work healing both Claire and Toni before Lily finally continued.

She let out a deep sigh. “The Tyrant isn’t who they say he is.”

That caught the attention of everyone in the room. Ana stopped midcast to stare at Lily. Lily took another breath before she continued.

“From what I read, he was nearly considered a saint for brokering peace with the Demons,” Lily said. She felt Claire tense up beneath her. It was the exact opposite of what they had been taught. “It was the death of his lover that caused him to wipe the demons out, not retaliation for doing so.”

The color drained from Claire’s face. The power-hungry hero was brokering peace? It was hard to wrap her head around that fact. To think The Tyrant was very nearly a saint worsened Claire’s headache.

“So wait,” Elsie mumbled. “The princess wasn’t killed by demons for wiping out their army? I-it happened before the genocide?”

“According to what I found,” Lily nodded. “And, Firewater and Silke were his companions.”