For the second time that day, Lucas was chatting with Rachel and felt herself suddenly pulled away.
"Neruite, I don't mind you doing th..."
She looked at the landscape. Extremely cloudy. The surface didn't look much better, and seemed to be very hot - yet, Lucas felt no discomfort.
Venus... - She thought.
"Correct. We need to talk."
Lucas turned around to see the perfect woman she had seen once. This time, her looks did not daze Lucas.
"Er... Venus, right? How may I help you?"
"You already are. However, there is some things you must know. You, the one who can destroy all fates..." - Said Venus.
"You know, that title sounds really badass... - Said Lucas.
"You are the one that caused Lilly's fate to be that death in the first place, Lucas." - Said Venus, dryly. In her current mood, she had no time or will for niceties.
"WHAT??? But... I... How?"
"First of all, it's not only your sword that can destroy fate. Your sword is part of you... And..." - Venus paused. She looked at Lucas's face. Even in her state of mind, Venus could tell Lucas was devastated, and she hadn't even known what she did in full. Venus changed her tone a bit and continued. - "Your trip to the Far Plane. Because of it, the Bridge Guardian ceased to be the Guardian. And in her attributions, she could have prevented Lilly's death..."
"Dammit... I... Oh, fuck... Oh, FUCK... I didn't know... I... Er, she's your favored one, right? I... You can punish me... I fucking deserve it... Dammit..." - Lucas cried, looking at her own hands as if they were covered in blood. Looking at that, Venus's anger turned to sadness. Lucas, as a woman now, was also her daughter, after all, and she had no way to know.
"I cannot. For you are favored by Selene. I will not. For you can still change that fate, and now you have more information to do it with. And I would not. For you had no reasonable way to expect that outcome from your actions, and for your actions helped protect our world in the end as well." - Said Venus - "You do not deserve punishment for something I myself did not know it before."
"But... I... Dammit... How did you find that out?" - Asked Lucas.
"Death told me." - Said Venus, shrugging.
"Dammit. I have got to clean this mess... It's my fault..." - Said Lucas.
"Calm down." - Said Venus. She walked up to Lucas, and embraced her. Lucas had felt the embrace of a deity before, but it was always special. It was always the contact with a force of nature, with something older than humanity itself.
Lucas calmed down. Venus continued.
"You now have some more information to help our cause, Lucas. Seek out the Guardian. Her name is Shi, and it was Kyle Smith before. She still lives in Lakeside. You can try and obtain her help."
"The fourth move... The move that will save Lilly after I go to Greece get those leaves... Okay. I will... I... I am sorry. Also, er, if you were planning to give me anything for helping, don't. I wouldn't be much of a professional if I charged just to clean up my own messes." - Said Lucas.
"Your reward will also further my own purposes, which you and I share. So you will still have it. Besides, you will deserve it anyways." - Said Venus.
"But I screwed it up... I am to blame..." - Said Lucas.
"You will fix it, and you had no way to know." - Said Venus - "And for what it's worth? You are a professional. You are the one who can destroy all fates... Death himself called you that. Cheer up..."
Lucas blushed a bit, her humor-as-defense-mechanism habit kicking in. "Himself? So, Death is not a cute, perky goth woman? Damn, I was really hoping Neil Gaiman was right..."
"I can't promise anything, but I will ask him if he can't take that form for you if and when your time comes. Now go back."
"Lucas? LUCAS!" - Said Rachel.
Lucas blinked, finding herself back on the church grounds, and quite startled.
"Er, y-yes?"
"You spent, like, ten seconds staring into space." - said Rachel.
"Sorry... Say... Do you know a Kyle Smith?" - Said Lucas, realizing that thing with Venus had been a vision then.
"No, sorry. Why?" - Said Rachel.
"I was told she could help." - Said Lucas - "Okay. New plan. Robert, I need you to ask your parishioners about a Kyle Smith. I'm sorry, but..."
Robert nodded. "You are trying to save a life. I will do it."
"Good." - Said Lucas.
Maybe that will prevent me from becoming a fucking murderer... - She thought to herself, darkly.
