The next morning, Hilde opens my window.
While her back is turned, I check far down below and find land, so I dump the bucket I placed on the sill late last night. The smooth rocks I pilfered from the pond drop through the clouds and scatter in the wind as they go, taking the paper scraps with them. I wrote a simple warning about the invasion on each and every piece then secured them with twine. I'm hoping the messages might land safely and somehow find their way to Umbra. It's a seriously long shot, but it's the best I could come up with so far.
I watch them go, holding my breath and half expecting the patrollers to intercept them, but it's all quiet out there. The problem is, I won't ever know if this attempt is successful or not. At least I'm trying. After I give a small handful of birdseed to Scarlet, I turn toward the inside of the room and attempt to act natural.
It doesn't last.
Slackjawed, I point a claw. "What… What are you… doing here?"
My next tutor ruffles her dusty white and pink moth wings as she approaches the table, her glowing pink fuzzy antennae rubbing against each other while she sets out her books with careful precision. With the back of a claw, Penny brushes her white and pink hair behind an ear, looking up at me with a blank expression of neutral ambiguity.
"Surprise!" Hilde beams. We haven't spoken a word about what happened yesterday. It seems we're both acting like it was nothing. "I got approval and finally managed to hire the person I've had in mind all along. Expert Scribe Penelope!"
"Thank you, Hilde," she murmurs, still staring up at me. "I'm honored to be given the opportunity. This project… It has my interest. For obvious personal reasons… As well as academic reasons."
"Poor thing even cut her vacation short to be here," Hilde says with a wince. "I'll make it up to you, Pens. Thanks for coming."
"Mhm." Penny finally takes her eyes off me and sits down at the table. Gesturing, she quietly says, "Please. Have a seat."
On stiff knees, I lower into my chair.
Squinting at me, she hums in thought. "Are you certain this is her? Have you verified it is indeed Crimson who's in control of herself?"
"Aside from a few odd episodes, yes. This is absolutely Crimson."
"Mm. How do you know?"
"Um. It's personal."
"What's my pet name for you, Crimson?"
"Huh? O–Oh. It… It's Crim-Crim."
"Which race series was the first I attended to watch you?"
"That was my first time flying the fucking Koi. I was worried you'd be bored because it's such a long track…"
"What's my third favorite fiction genre?"
"Murder mysteries. Just after extremely graphic sexual romance novels in second and psychological horror thrillers in first."
"Yes. You're Crim-Crim." Penny slips on a pair of big circular lens glasses then pushes them up her adorable little nose as she checks her papers for something. "You destroyed the Cathedral and murdered the Seraphim before you were smited."
I'm not sure if I'm intended to respond until her sharp slitted pink eyes flicker toward me. "Y–Yes. I did. That's right."
"What happened immediately after you fell from the Heavens?"
"Um. I landed in a giant rose which cushioned my fall, and Umbsy–Ah. Umbra took me to the Hells."
"And after that?"
"I lived with her for a while. She took care of me. Fed me, clothed me, bathed me, treated my burns, and listened to my woes. She helped me through my pain, my fear, and my grief. I owe my recovery, both mentally and physically, to her. Without Umbra, I wouldn't be here. I'm not certain I'd even be alive. If you understand my meaning."
"Hells," Hilde whispers.
"I don't," Penny states flatly, her quill halting on the notes she's taking. "Explain."
"I might've ended my own life, Penny."
"Mhm. Okay." She effortlessly speaks while she's writing. "So you believe the Fell saved you. Both from misery and from suicide. Those are compelling reasons to cede to someone's intentions. But the truth is, if you were convinced she was kind, then she could pluck more of your strings. Making you more susceptible to manipulation."
"What? No. There was nothing manipulative about it."
Penny's stare could freeze the seas. "Are you certain?"
I hesitate, slowly cueing in. "Um. No… I suppose not."
"With that much in mind, you were made vulnerable by being smited, and the Fell seized upon those vulnerabilities. That much is common knowledge. That's what she has done for millennia. For clarification's sake, were you made Wretched immediately after being taken to the Hells?"
"No. I wasn't."
"So she showed you all of this deceptive kindness when you were still in control of your own faculties. But again, you were vulnerable, and she exploited that fact. Let me ask you this. Did her supposed compassion influence you in any way?"
"I think anyone's compassion is influential. So… Yes."
"It improved your disposition towards her."
"It did, yes."
"Even though you knew who she was, what she's done, and the monstrous cruelties she was capable of, you felt drawn in regardless."
"Correct."
"Did you ever discuss… philosophies? Rather, did she tell you anything that changed the way you felt towards the Heavens, the Church, or the Goddess?"
"Yes."
"In regards to what?"
"Damn near everything. I don't remember the specifics."
"Okay. Then tell me this. Did you decide to turn on the Church before or after she began influencing your perspectives with her false compassion or her deceptive information?"
"Before."
"Are you certain of that?"
"Well, yes. I destroyed the Cathedral and killed Vitalius before any of these corruptive manipulations were enacted upon me."
Penny finishes scribbling then pushes her glasses up and stares at me for a brief moment. "When you were summoned several months ago, you were dispatched to Avi alone. You of course triumphed over the Wretched Overgrowth, but since your stint of apostasy began, questions have been raised as to the authenticity of your alleged victory. So, I ask you this. Did the Fallen Queen contact you in any way during that dispatch?"
Last time this question was raised, my life was dependent on the lie. No longer. "Yes. She captured and imprisoned me in the Hells. I was kept on a cursed chain for… Maybe a week? During which, we often spoke at length. She attempted to be kind and compassionate, but I hated her then. I despised her every act. I loathed her every word. Eventually, she chose to retreat the Overgrowth and released me. I returned to the Heavens proclaiming the lie that I defeated her."
"Mhm. So, you had distinct and extended contact with the Fell prior to your destruction of the Cathedral and murder of the Seraphim. Which means your apostasy and treason were, in fact, influenced by her falsely compassionate manipulations."
Oh. Shit. I see what she's doing now.
"Yes," I nod, sitting up in my chair. "Yes, that's correct."
"Which means all of this, every part of it, from your seditious investigation into supposedly altered historical documentation to your murderous rampage against the Church's Legends, was the result of the Fell's malevolent intentions. In short…"
"I'm innocent," I whisper in awe. "All of this was her doing."
"Whether directly or indirectly," Penny adds to her notes, "Radiant Fable Crimson's actions since her solo dispatch to Avi were coerced, both against her will and without her knowledge, by the Fallen Queen. With this irrefutable and immutable fact in mind, Crimson herself cannot be held liable nor responsible for any of the crimes she has committed against the Church of Solaris since the day of her most recent summons, because Crimson did not commit any of these offenses by her own choice according to her own free will. Therefore, under the Goddess's law and the Church's tenets, Crimson can only be declared innocent of all charges."
I'm utterly fucking astounded. Go, Penny, go!
"Wow," Hilde exhales, resting a hand on the back of my chair. "How about that? I knew you were the right choice, Pens. Fucking fantastic work. Genuinely."
"I'm not done yet." She swipes a sharp line of black ink across the page and moves it aside to spread out another one. Again adjusting her glasses, she insists, "That much only determines her innocence in relation to her crimes and to her becoming Wretched. That's only half the equation. You asked me to discern whether she is or is not still under the Fell's influence. I've yet to do that."
"Hm. Honestly, I think a break is in order. That was a lot at once, and we definitely don't want to overwhelm her. How about we pick this back up come lunchtime?"
Capping her inkwell, Penny nods. "That's fine with me."
I nod too, a little dazed. "Y–Yeah. A break sounds nice…"
"Great. The ponds again, Crimz? Or maybe the library? Whatever you'd like to do."
"Take a nap, honestly. Together?"
"Oh. That sounds nice. Care to join in, Pens?"
Her antennae have perked up. "Yes. Please."
I wind up in the middle with Penny in my arms on our sides, her back curled up to fit my front, and Hilde has me in the same position from behind me. Her long blue arm holds us both tight, and she kisses the back of my neck as she settles in and sighs. Meanwhile, Penny tangles up our legs and curls her tail around mine, pushing back against me to get as close as possible.
Bliss.
A few minutes pass in relative silence. The slow wind, the distant chimes, and Scarlet's gentle chirps–That's all. I nearly doze off, but then I remember. With a soft nip on Penny's pointed ear, I lean in close and speak directly into it with a voice so hushed nobody but her could possibly hear it.
"They're planning to invade."
Her head turns slightly. Another moment passes.
Then her mothy wing slightly twitches against me.
There. Another avenue. Potentially. So I hope.
With that done, I indulge in this comfort and drift off.
Innocent of all charges. What a fucking racket.
Leave it to Penny.