Aster could see Tune tense up as everyone looked toward them.


    She glanced toward the others, trying to measure their responses. Mira was also looking around at her companions, probably uncertain of what to think. She seemed... Apprehensive, if Aster read her right. Hyacinth seemed wary, his eyes flicking to Aster again before he watched Tune carefully, but didn''t make any obvious attempts to prepare to defend himself.


    Fennel looked thoughtful. Curious, even. Probably trying to avoid jumping to conclusions. “Alright then, let''s hear it.”


    Aster drew in a deep breath. “...I guess I''ll start with how I met them.”


    Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Tune kind of flinch. She turned to look at them again. “Or, Tune, would you rather explain it yourself?”


    Tune folded their arms and quietly exhaled. “Sure. Feel free to chime in or correct me. I, uh... As far as I can tell, I was a Lucenari before I Darkened and lost my name. The name I had before, at least, and with it went my memories. I can remember how to write and walk and stuff like that, I just... Don''t really know who I''ve been, or the people I used to know, or the life I used to lead. I became a Shade, yes, but I have reason to believe that I am the same consciousness I was before losing my memories. It wasn''t dying.”


    Aster looked over at dad. His eyes had widened at that. Aster hesitated, then spoke. “...but we can''t know yet what that means for others that have Darkened. It implies there''s more hope, but it doesn''t guarantee anything. We... Still have to be careful.” She reached over and gave Dad''s shoulder a gentle squeeze, like he would sometimes do to remind her to calm down or take it slow, or simply that he was there.


    He took a steadying breath and nodded, briefly putting his hand on the hand she’d put on his shoulder. “Of course.”


    Aster looked over at Hyacinth. His arms were folded tightly, and he looked down with an uncertain, pained expression, but he looked up as he noticed Aster’s questioning gaze. “It''s a good caveat, as frustrating as it is.” He dug his fingers into his own upper arm before letting go with an exhale. “All we can change is the future.”


    Aster nodded despite the feeling of guilt that had crawled into her throat. Why should she feel guilty? She hadn''t done this to any of them. Well, not the loved ones they''d lost to the Depths, at least. Unless Orion really was my f-


    She shook her head slightly, like she could shake the thoughts away. She''d been told again and again that that wasn''t a useful train of thought. They were probably right about that. It just didn''t stop feeling like maybe if it was all her fault, that made it all more possible to change. If she could just shoulder everything, maybe it''d be closer in reach and she could learn to change it?


    Maybe it was a strange, painful sort of wishful thinking.


    She looked over at Mira, but it was hard to give a name to the expression she wore, especially since she seemed to be trying to shove down her emotions. She gripped pieces of her shade cloak by her hands as if for comfort. Her parents mourned her before she even lost her name. But they were wrong that it was inevitable, and they were wrong even that it would truly be a death.


    They left her alone for nothing.


    Aster tried to curb the hot anger she could feel rising at that. How were they supposed to know, what were they supposed to do? Can I really blame them?


    There was a part of her that didn''t really care whether her anger was really justified or not. It scared her.


    Aster took a deep breath and turned back to Tune, who had waited for them to process, looking... Uncomfortable, awkward? Maybe they felt out of place. Someone did that to them too. Someone tried to ensure that we’d all think Shades had no rightful place. Or maybe... This all happened by accident? Happenstance, just people doing whatever they knew how? She wasn''t sure which option she found worse.


    “Um,” Tune started eloquently. “So, I''ve been trying to piece together what information I can, about myself and the mysteries of the Depths, etcetera. I did find an echo crystal that had some kind of connection to my memories - it was able to... Sort of give me a memory back, as far as I can tell, though it was imperfect. I need help tracking down more of these crystals and related information, not to mention surviving the perils of the Depths.” They swallowed. “And so I gathered information and Enshrouded Aster. I never intended to hurt her, and it wasn''t likely to last long, especially with my inexperience and her competence as a Lantern.” Aster winced slightly at that. Competence, huh? If I would qualify as competent, we''re worse off than we thought. “She broke out of it, and we were thankfully able to communicate with each other.”


    “So you''ll never do anything like that again, right? Possessing her?” Hyacinth seemed to be trying not to narrow his eyes too much.


    “You''re going to have to define your terms more specifically.”


    Hyacinth sighed, but nodded. “That seems a tad evasive, but I guess it''s reasonable enough. You will not take control of her?”


    “I won''t take control of her without her consent, no.”


    “Why would she ever consent to that?”


    “I''m not sure if she would. I''m just also not sure she wouldn''t ever find a use for it, so I''m trying to only keep promises I know I can keep.” They folded their arms. “Isn''t that better than just telling you what you want to hear?”


    Hyacinth paused, then took in a calming breath, unfolding his arms. “You''re right. I''m sorry for any hostility I unintentionally show, this is all just... Tense.”


    Tune nodded slowly. “Yeah. Of course it is. We''ll just... Have to build trust over time. I just hope I''m not permanently barred from your trust just by being a Shade.”


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    “No, that wouldn''t make sense.” He tapped his arm a few times. “Not to do intentionally, at least. I know that''s, ah... not usually how it works, um... I will do my best to see your actions in their full context, and not just from the lens of our differences.” Hyacinth did a Lantern bow, usually done to accept a task or mission from Overseers. Aster chuckled softly through her nose. Well, s’pose it works here too.


    Tune hesitated slightly. “Thank you. I wish you luck.” They paused and hummed softly. “Is that... Enough? Can we keep going now?”


    Aster paused and glanced at the others. Fennel nodded. “Yeah, we should get going. We still have a lot of trust to build, but I''ll do my best to protect you too, Tune. I''m Fennel, Aster’s dad. It''s nice to meet you.” He smiled at them, but this time didn''t try to extend a handshake or anything, probably assuming it may not be comfortable for them, or that it may be different for Shades.


    Tune hesitated, almost seeming to study Fennel. “Ah, thank you. I''ll try to help you all through our route in turn.”


    The group started moving again, a bit slowly at first as they settled into a new rhythm.


    Aster had always hated something about how silent it always felt around them down here.


    “Exactly how far until there stops being openings to the sky?” Mira asked eventually.


    Aster brought out her map and showed her. “There may well be areas I’ve missed around here,” she said, tracing an area a bit ahead of their approximate location. “But once you get around here...” she moved her finger a little further, “based on what I know of the shape of the mountain, there won’t be any at all beyond this point.”


    Mira sighed shakily. “Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Thanks.”


    Aster paused, looking at her. A few strides passed before she spoke again. “Mira,” she said softly. Mira glanced at her. “We’ll protect you.”


    Mira tensed, the line of her mouth unsteady. She hesitated visibly. “But you can''t promise you''ll succeed,” she said quietly, biting her lip like she was just a moment too late to bite the words back. “No one truly can. No matter how much they want to.”


    Aster felt a little bit like she''d been stabbed. She sucked in a quiet, sharp breath, forcing herself to keep walking as she scrambled to find a suitable response.


    She ran out of time. Mira gripped her own arm, not meeting Aster’s gaze again. “Aster... it’s not up to you. It’s not your fault. You don’t have to think it is. It doesn’t mean you’re weak, it just means we’re fighting an uphill battle.”


    Aster’s hands absently twitched in and out of making fists. I’m not qualified to give you a hero’s response on this yet. You’re speaking too honestly, how am I supposed to match that with my facade? She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, even as she continued walking as if driven by some outside force. At least no tears slipped out. At least she kept this pain and the anguish of inadequacy locked up where it couldn’t often snake out and touch them too. Right? Did she keep it well enough?


    Her mind caught on one word from her own thoughts. “Yet”. I can’t be exactly what you need yet. Yet, I still have time. I have to believe that. She let one hand form a stable fist and subconsciously touched it to the place on her arm that mirrored her father’s Taint mark. “You’re right that it’s an uphill battle,” she conceded. “But whether or not it’s up to me remains to be seen. It would be a disservice for me to disqualify myself from even trying to make a difference, because sometimes all someone needs is one tiny desperate effort to buy them one more sliver of time.” She took a deep breath. I can’t step too deep into telling her how afraid I am. I can’t give her more fear. She probably has more than enough for both of us and it’s all she can do to keep it from spilling. Even as she drowns in it? Like I sometimes do? “It’s not always about if I can change everything I set out to. If I make anything better by my efforts, and I don’t also do more harm than good, I can accept all of it. I’m just trying to... tip the scales.” Aster tensed up slightly, realizing that last bit may not have been the best choice of words. She glanced at dad and found that he was looking at her, like she thought he might be. She bit her lip, looking away again. She’d said similar things before. He probably knew what she meant by it.


    Mira paused, taking in what Aster had said. Aster thought she saw Mira relax slightly. She hoped she wasn’t imagining it for her own sake. “I... think you’re right.” She took a slow, deep breath of her own, closing her eyes and slowing her pace for just a moment as she self-soothed, placing a hand gently near her own collarbone. “I want to have determination like yours.” She paused, then chuckled softly. “Any, uh, tips?”


    Aster breathed out a laugh without much humor in it. “I’m not really sure,” how to get it, or if it’s really strong enough for you to want it, “but... Well, defiance is helpful sometimes. I try not to accept answers I find unacceptable, and try to change them.” She tipped her head from side to side slightly, trying to weigh the ideas swirling around in her head. “It’s better if I actually get to inquire into the answers themselves, but often I can’t really get to them. It’s hard to tell if there really are any reasons to them, sometimes. If I can actually ask, maybe I can find good reasons to accept whatever it is. Or maybe not, but, well, I had to question a lot of things to get to where I am. I have no guarantee that I’m entirely right now either, I just hope to correct things as I go and find the things that I can trust the most.”


    Mira nodded. “I... can try, at least.”


    Aster gave a slight smile. “That’s all I’m doing. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and thank goodness for that, because if it did then nothing I’ve done would count.” It felt like an obvious thing to say, but sometimes obvious things were comforting anyway, or they weren’t as obvious from a different perspective, or they just had no effect.


    The conversation petered out. A part of Aster wished she could get some kind of direct feedback on how well she’d performed. It didn’t come naturally to her, why did people act like somehow it would?


    “The air is getting steadily more humid, and colder,” Tune announced.


    Aster glanced at them, then paused, seeing if she could tell if anything had changed. “Are  you sensitive to gradual changes like that?”


    “Oh, yeah,” they said. “Did I not mention that?”


    “Uh, no.”


    “Huh. I am a creature of mystery.”


    Aster shot them a flat look. They grinned insufferably. She raised her eyebrows, but chuckled softly as she turned her attention back to the path ahead.


    Fog gathered in wispy layers ahead of them, swirling and curling around each other. Aster squinted, trying to pierce through it with sheer willpower. She tried to ensure all the wisps she saw were pale, not Dark. “Tune? You’re looking out for wisps of the Dark, right?”


    “Sure am. You doubted me?”


    “You don’t go out of your way to seem the most dependable.”


    “I like to be surprising.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see them waggle their eyebrows.


    “By way of setting low expectations?”


    “That’s one method, yes. Many paths lead to the same destination, and I like a change of scenery from time to time.”


    “Doesn’t that take you off track sometimes?” Hyacinth piped up.


    “That’s just part of the fun.”


    Aster couldn’t tell whether they were kidding.


    What were those sounds?


    Aster stopped abruptly and held up a hand, trying to listen. The group gradually came to a stop.


    Ah yes. That was someone calling for help.


    And then those were screams.