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The two moons, one a bright, luminous white and the other a deeper shade of bluish silver, were high in the night sky, embraced by calm, shimmering stars.

Pale rays of light shone down through the canopy of the Outer Disciple regions forest. The evening had come many hours ago, the forest hummed with the eagerness of insects, and the trees rustled.

This great song of life soothed along in song with the pale and tall, maidservant dressed, woman of elven blood.

Green, healthful grass caressed her bare feet, and the gold tips of her hair no longer trickled his blood to the ground. It had been tied back up into a neat, proprietary bun.

Only once her master had gone to bed could she relieve herself with letting it down.

Thus, those so daintily elven ears of hers twitched unhidden as the cool breeze from the shimmering lake brushed past her figure, swaying her soft green robes.

The sound of cloth scrubbing against cloth interrupted the sound of her humming at intervals.

She stood before a table that she had fashioned herself two days ago once they had arrived, a washing tub ahead of her, and within it, the reflection of her still, wistful, pondering and elegant countenance rippled and quivered.

’For this to be the last we might see of each other...’

Since her Dawn, she had learnt of humanity. From their hypocrisies to their excellences, their deserved laudations or their savagery towards themselves, or against them. It had been her demanded imperative.

Thus, there was not quite anything, from their understanding that she could have said that she had not been exposed to and understood.

That was why her vengeance burned so bright, and it was why, as that water splashed out from the bucket and the rag that she had used to clean his blood, it was why!

’Now of all times?!’

It was why, her heart stirred so, and her esteem burned, hurting and soothing her!

Ouyang Qianye had perhaps been her greatest fortune since the sight of her mother’s eyes, as well as her greatest misfortune since she watched the nightfall of her gold.

Those human alchemists drawing her blood for ingredients, her nails and vital essence, were far short of anything in comparison to them. It was only pain.

What could the torment of what would heal hold against the longing for what was lost?

While in contrast, he had since so misfortunately stood as the great monolith maintaining her slavery, denying her freedom.

However, the man was also at oddity.

To stumble upon someone that in the best way for herself, went against the mould of humanities behaviours towards them, was something that she had greatly appreciated. Not once in this life would she ever take lightly the kindness that his apparent coldness made manifest.

After all, she could feel it in his breath, all these years, the yearning of his soul. None besides her mother could ever hide it from her, so how could she not know that despite his indifference, that barbarity and rashness, he only desired as even she did, for life?

She might not have had the slightest affinity for him, and gladly, neither had he seemed to have any for her.

Be that as it may, she was not ungracious.

’Right when I’ve come to feel his soul change so much,’ the table beneath shook and the tub rattled as she grate the rag against itself harder, splashing water up to stain her dirtied robes more and splash upon her wrested expression ’right when he has forsaken its filthiness, I must be forced to leave him because of the senselessly made rules of humans?!’

She heard the birds carry on from her languishing hums that had ceased in her agitation.

The flaps of their wings sounded through the area, and her hands stopped washing to glance over at where she heard the soft scrape of their claws over the wood.

There was a mound of butchered flesh, and one of bone crushed to fine powder right beside it. A pair of small orange birds sat over the edge of the table near where she had left the bone powder, while a palm’s size larger bird had landed by the miniature diced flesh.

For several moments she only watched them, and then one other bird, larger than the rest at perhaps her torso’s size landed. Her eyes met its, as it landed carefully towards the edge of the table, away from the other birds that had been slightly frightened by its presence.

Those smaller glanced at her a moment, and then immediately drew themselves back to the food.

Meanwhile the larger one waited, turning its head to focus an eye on her.

"You may," she muttered, and finally gave way to a faint sigh, easing her tight shoulders.

Then her attention drew back to the water, at her rippling, red reflection within it, and she relieved her hands of it. She took out the cleaned cloth and she wrung it dry of the innocence mixed bloody water.

The elven woman sighed to herself faintly once more, as she unfurled it. Then she hung it over the lip of the basin.

Her feet turned and the grass soothed her as she graced down along the path between the trees, walking for the shimmering pond.

The water at its edge stirred faintly, growing out to touch her bare feet. The slightly loose hairs to the back of her head brushed her neck as her head raised itself to look at the moon.

Her brows were knit and her countenance was stirred by the tumult of a stirring sea, her lips pursed and her ears drew tighter.

"...Mother, what would you advise I do?" her voice felt as fragile as velvet, and as fleeting as a dying breath, "If I were to give myself to the calling of my licht... would I not disgrace our pride?" her eyes slowly fell, to a quivering close, "Might I still meet you in Paradise?"

The shimmer of the lake’s light shifted as the rays of the moon moved, eventually shining over her figure. The trees and the brush rustled at the faint wind.

In those several moments, half of her awareness remained standing before the pond, and the other half was drawn high, into a blinding light. A deluge of shimmering water fell and the ground was blindingly luminous, with elegant dark blue, gold and dark grey all shining and refracting through the luminous rain.

The rays of light from below gathered into an ethereal figure. It’s luminous light wisp trailing arm raised, pointing through her.

Suddenly, her eyes broke open, glimmering that triad of light. Her body wrenched itself backwards and she burst into a run.

"Qianye!" her hair broke free as the forest green blurred past her and her feet begged forward with great speed.

Within a dozen seconds, the shack was in sight beyond the forest line. She burst past it, and at this point, running through her arms that had been relieved of the bandaging, gold lines, as if veins, threaded.

She jumped through the window, and as she flew through the tattered curtain her head had already turned. Her eyes grew wider, at the sight of him.

Blood poured through his facial orifices, the mist of his licht billowed off of him, emptying wildly. His body had fallen to a dead pale, his hair had gone lifelessly white, and his body swayed, as if it would collapse at any moment.

This great disaster had happened within the hour of her leaving his side for the forest.

The hard landing of her feet over the ground shocked her out of her stupor and she pivoted and raced herself before him.

She threw herself to her knees and her eyes had immediately fallen to the object that he had been using to sleep, tearing it away from his lap and throwing it behind herself.

At the same time, her free hand raised, swiftly drawing luminous symbols over his forehead.

The golden light of each one blackened rapidly, luminous at its edges. And her lips burst into recitation in ancient elvish—an incantation in anything lesser would not suffice in holding his soul together.

’Mother, forgive me for I will be faithless! Let Paradise condemn me! Let my Licht be stained! The laws of humans, elves or spirits shall not take his soul before I decide what he is to me.’