Yrix stood in her office, staring at the empty corner with an inquistory gaze. From a common man's perspective, she was just drifting in her own thoughts. But a Psion would know with certainty that she was peering through the walls of the Aerie to observe her students.
At first, her watch was done out of a need to keep the girls in check. But as a night turned into a week, she felt something new. Yrix fidgeted with her spindly claws, wandering all on their own despite her focused mind.
She was worried.
A sense of motherhood had always drawn a shadow over her work. But she had never anticipated it to grow so strong. Fortunately for the Arch-Flayer, her feelings only fortified her ambitions.
"My students.." She muttered to herself.
Her gaze reached into the depths of the Aerie with ease, allowing her to witness Lila as she led Ivy into her storage chamber. Lunae and Sonera were close behind, choosing to bide their time in frivolity. It should have been forbidden. They should be training.
But Yrix stayed her hand. She felt that she owed it to them after the stunt she pulled with Imura. In fact, her mind barely even registered the possibility of flinging the girls into another trial.
They needed time. And apparently, so did Yrix. It was a strange thing for her to pause even a second after a millennium of concentrated ambition.
"Lunae..." Yrix crossed her arms.
That girl still had to prove her worth. To take a pacifist stance was completely unacceptable for a Psion, no matter how much Lunae liked to skirt the edge by assisting her violent allies. But moreover, Yrix was still concerned that she would stifle her own growth by embracing cowardice.
Sonera was quite the opposite in that regard. She was Yrix's favorite, a prodigy in the making. All those accolades were earned simply by embracing the call for violence.
Then again, she was quite fond of Lila as well. Exceptions were made for her, largely due to Yrix's fascination with Earthborn humans. Ivy, on the other hand, was simply another success thus far, nothing more and nothing less.
"Still," Yrix lifted her index finger. "She's changed. Another accomplishment for Lila."
- - - - - - - -
"It's wonderful!" Lunae beamed with joy, clapping her hands togethor as she levitated down the staircase.
Her very presence illuminated the dark surroundings, reminding everyone just how potent her markings really were when the girl was excited. It was almost as if she hadn't been many places outside of the Aerie. Indeed, she was thrilled beyond even what Sonera had anticipated.
"What even is it?" Ivy scoffed, crossing her arms.
"Yrix's weird collection." Lila threw up her hands. "Peak cinema, right? I haven't checked it out all myself, maybe she's got some alien stuff here too."
Lunae quickly made her way to the clothes section, admiring all the Earthly fashion it had to offer. She was most amused by the feminine wear, of course, waving for Sonera to come look at it with her. Ivy, on the other hand, seemed mostly confused.
The heiress from a week ago would have scolded Lila for bringing her somewhere so dank and dusty. But her appreciation for the romantic gesture was palpable, judging by her lack of fury. Lila smiled at her for that, trying to poke Ivy further down the stairs.
"Why does Yrix even have all this?" Ivy mused. "Seems completely ridiculous."
"Don't you got a wine collection or something?" Lila shrugged. "Similar principle. She's a collector."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "More like an art investment. Only my mother did wine...before..."
Lila glanced at Ivy with concern in her eyes. "Hm?"
"Never mind." Ivy sighed as she walked onwards, allowing herself to observe the aisles more closely.
Now that their relationship had stabilized, Lila began to realize how little she knew of the heiress's background. It was so prominent before, when Ivy would brag about how much better she was. But now that she was closer, more personal, it had all faded away.
Then again, Lila never really knew anything about Ivy's family. Rena didn't open up about it beyond her initial rant, and her dreamscape was far more focused on her child, whose story unfolded after she lost her home. She wanted to ask, but that might sour the date.
Or so Lila beleived.
"Being open about things is part of what I'd call growing closer, Lila." Ivy exhaled, her hands drifting through a series of old photos. "You did bring me to a museum. People have a past. It's recorded."
Lila wanted to smack herself for ever bringing it up. She wanted a nice, cute date, and with one meager jest, she had brought it all down. Now it seemed Ivy's attitude had gone from curiosity to complete melancholy.
"You really don't gotta talk about it if you don't want Ivy." Lila frowned, following the heiress with a pensive step.
"It's just...I'm a bit scared to even bring it up." Ivy continued, ignoring Lila's remark. "But you're the only one who's allowed me to face that fear, even if just a bit."
"Ivy..."
The heiress stopped in her tracks, locking her own fingers togethor as she stared at the floor. Lunae and Sonera had wandered off, seemingly enjoying their date. But Ivy was trapped, doomed to continue her journey through the past.
"The truth is, my family has no heart, Lila. And I don't mean to refer to whatever happened with Rena or the other common folk." Ivy explained in a heavy voice. "That feeling, it never left me. Not since I lost my mother.
Things weren't perfect before then, of course. I was miserable. All I had was my sister. But it wasn't empty, not soulless. After my mother was gone, the girl I once called sister couldn't even bear to look at me, and everything else felt like a lie." The heiress finished.
"Do you...love your mother?" Lila walked past the heiress, staring at another segment of the shelves.
"Not like you...no. You...with your little Ginjous and your sweet memories. My mother was detached at best, and cruel at worst. If she couldn't have the respect she wanted from father and the others, then no one could. But...after...she changed."
"Wait, but I thought-."
"She died. Yes. Only, father slaved away at making this...thing in her stead. It feels like mother, only I know it's not."
Lila tried to hide her bewilderment. "How so?"
"It loves me. Deep within those soulless eyes, I feel something that my real mother never gave me. And that...it terrifies me. Deep down, I know, Lila. The girl you see is just as empty."
The Earthling shook her head. "No."
"Lila-." Ivy's breath hitched.
Lila huffed rather loudly, and after pulling a strange object off the wall, she swiveled on her heels and turned to face Ivy. She held what appeared to be a stethoscope in her hands, clutching it tightly before gently resting its diaphragm on the heiress's left breast. Ivy jolted, shocked to see how focused Lila was in her gesture.
It wasn't an attempt at a jest.
"Sounds real to me," Lila spoke solemnly, using one of the earpieces to listen to Ivy's heartbeat. "There it is. That thumping sound."
"I..." Ivy blushed, raising both her hands above her waist in an uneasy stance. "Lila..."
She didn't even recognize the old human instrument, staring at it blankly. The heiress was far more concerned with how cold the metal peice felt on her exposed cleavage, and how embarrassing it was for Lila to squish it. Yet still, despite her restlessness, she allowed Lila to continue.
The Earthling continued in her serious tone. "You're human, Ivy. I feel your heart. Your mind. I felt that slap, and I felt the breath from your mouth. All of it, real.
Yeah, sometimes in life we experience things that make us feel empty. You, above all else, know what that's like. But it doesn't make you less human. If anything, it just makes your love more sincere. And that's what I feel for you, Ivy. Something sincere."
"B-but." Ivy stammered.
"I don't give a shit what your asshole father did. And I'll be there for you when you need my hand in your sleep. You matter to me. And if there's anything you can cling to, so as to remind yourself just how real you are. It's that."
The heiress burst into tears, smacking the stethoscope away from her chest before tackling Lila with a hug. Her chest pressed into the Earthling harder than it ever had before, as her face slung over the girl's shoulder. Lila nearly fell over, meeting Ivy with her own hug as she struggled to maintain her footing.
Sonera's advice was good.
"I don't deserve you." Ivy sobbed.
"Man, I don't know." Lila smiled. "You're kinda out of my league. Maybe it's the other way around."