"Was it Hati that drove the Ethereals away?"
Yidhari gazed up at the Ethereals on the hillside, the absurd thought rising unbidden from somewhere deep inside her.
Before anyone else could react, a gust of wind swept past her side — and a flash of indigo bolted forward.
"Lucia?"
"Carrot!"
"Awoo!"
Lucia had broken away from the group at a full sprint, and the Hati surged down the hillside to meet her — and in an instant, girl and Ethereal were wrapped up in each other.
The little Hati rubbed its face against Lucia's clothes just like an eager puppy. If it had a tongue, it probably would have licked her too.
"What on earth is going on?"
"It's... a long story. The short version is that this little one isn't an enemy."
Geno, relieved at the sight of Carrot, put his weapon away and gave the others a quick rundown of the situation.
They'd last parted ways with this unusual Ethereal somewhere around this very area. He hadn't expected to run into it again here.
"That's actually incredible," Yuzuha said, her face full of wonder. An Ethereal that genuinely wouldn't attack humans — it was the kind of thing that turned her whole understanding of the world on its head.
"It seems this world is far broader than any of us realize," Yidhari said.
As a web novelist, Yidhari adapted to the revelation with remarkable speed. She'd written stranger premises than this — and so even when something this bizarre happened in real life, her surprise was brief before acceptance settled in.
After all, reality makes the strongest argument.
Watching Lucia and the little Hati play together, Yidhari unconsciously glanced at Geno beside her, something unreadable turning over in her mind.
As for Geno himself, he looked up at the sky. It had already been afternoon when they set out — and now dusk was drawing close.
"Alright, Lucia, playtime's over — it's almost dark."
"Let's move. Head for the safehouse. We can rest properly once we're there."
The others nodded in agreement. Lucia got up from the ground and fell into step with the group as they made their way toward the safehouse.
Carrot came along with them.
With the rebel pursuit shaken off, there was no more urgency in their pace. The anxious rushing from before was gone.
Roughly half an hour later, Geno and the others arrived at the safehouse they'd visited once before.
After everything that had happened in the town, Geno had half-worried this place might have Ethereals too — but that concern turned out to be unnecessary. The safehouse was just as safe as they'd left it.
"We're deep enough into the Hollow now that the rebels won't be able to reach us anytime soon," Yidhari said, glancing at the compass in her hand. Stored inside it were the Carrots she'd crafted herself on a previous visit.
"Thank goodness — at least we have somewhere to sleep tonight," Lucia said brightly.
"Lucia really is something else," Yidhari remarked.
After the harrowing ghost-story adventure and the life-or-death chase through the streets, Alice's energy and spirit were both running on fumes. Watching Lucia bounce around like nothing had happened, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
"When you've been through enough of it, you just get used to it," Lucia said lightly — words that, simple as they were, carried a quiet ache that made the other girls' hearts clench.
Lucia herself didn't think much of it. By now, thanks to Geno, she and her people had long since settled into a much better life than before.
Yidhari pulled Lucia into a hug, which sent a wave of warmth through her — along with a swell of entirely involuntary grievance.
She'd always thought her own development was coming along quite nicely. She had not anticipated that Hali would be quite so... impressive. What on earth did she eat?
Not that Lucia had any real grounds for complaint against Yidhari's, erm, generous proportions — compared to the two girls across from her who were still very much in the middle of growing up, Lucia could hold her head high with perfect confidence.
While the girls held their tea-less tea party on one side of the room, Geno slipped quietly out of the safehouse and made his way to where Carrot was waiting.
"Carrot, Carrot... what exactly are you?"
He crouched down beside the Hati, who had been sitting patiently outside the door ever since Lucia went in — obedient as could be. The questions that had been crowding Geno's mind all this time finally pushed their way out.
He was an Ethereal who had awakened consciousness within the Hollow. Geno thought of himself as human — but the instincts of his body never let him forget what he was.
Supernatural ability. No need for sleep or food. A body that ran on nothing but Ether.
No matter how hard he tried to follow the memories of his past life and fit into human society, he couldn't shake the nagging question — was someone like him really safe to be around?
Because the instinct of an Ethereal, at its core, was to attack humans.
More than once, he'd lain awake worrying that he might lose control one day — and hurt his friends.
Fortunately, up to this point, he'd never truly lost control.
And his time with Twiggy and the others had taught him something: even if that day ever came, there would be people there to stop him — to protect the ones he cared about.
All he had to do was make sure that day never arrived.
But today, seeing Carrot again, Geno had come to a realization.
Whether it was helping Lucia fend off Ethereals before, or coming to their rescue today — Carrot's behavior didn't follow any logic a normal Ethereal should possess.
It gave him a bold idea. Maybe — just maybe — Carrot had awakened the self-awareness it once held before becoming an Ethereal. The same way he had.
"Awoo?"
The Hati's response was exactly what a real dog would do. Geno's expression didn't change, but a quiet disappointment settled over him all the same.
"...Guess I was getting ahead of myself. Silly of me to think you'd just start talking."
He sighed, letting go of the small hope he'd been carrying — that he might find something like a kindred spirit.
Then again, Carrot was a Hati. Even if it had truly awakened some form of self-awareness, that awareness would be something like a wolf's or a dog's. Not so different from his own situation, perhaps — but speech was probably still out of the question.
Geno sighed again, caught between wishful thinking and resigned acceptance — then reached out and ruffled Carrot's head, just like he'd seen Lucia do.
The surface was rigid but not rough, faintly reminiscent of the Ether crystal shell that formed his own body.
"At the very least... I think I can call you a friend now, can't I?"
"Awroo!"
Carrot gave a nod, tail swinging back and forth behind it — like it had understood every word.
"Well then. You'd better be worthy of Lucia's feelings. Don't you dare make her sad — understood?"
Anyone with eyes could see how much Lucia genuinely cared for the little creature. She wasn't pretending — Carrot was a real friend to her.
With that said, Geno rose and turned to head back inside. Carrot listened to his words, tilted its head as if puzzled for a moment — then, as though something had clicked, turned and set off deeper into the Hollow.
____
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