Felicia came to stand beside Evelyn, her broken arm resting in a sling. Both of them were dressed in long black coats.
It had been two days since Isaacson's death. On that night, Kai had been taken to the police station and was interrogated about what had happened. But having once been a law student, he smartly kept his silence, and—unable to charge him with anything—they had no choice but to let him go. On the day that followed, he went to work as usual, and in the morning of the day after that, he was notified that the old man's body had been recovered from the wreckage… which brought him here.
A surprisingly large number of people arrived at the funeral: colleagues from work, friends of his wife, even mere acquaintances, like Lance, were there.
Bella lay at Kai's feet as John's coffin was lowered to the ground, and the Oathless watched her with a grimace. She had barely eaten anything in the past couple of days and had spent most of the time unmoving on the floor, sighing deeply. He could imagine how she felt.
I'm so sorry, Bella, he thought.
Hexaphalia was trying to get to him by hurting people he cared about, and he had a feeling she wasn't done just yet. In a way, that made him responsible for the old man's death, even though he knew it wasn't his fault. She will keep hurting people until I—or… until someone puts a stop to her.
"I've made contact with Aqwyn," Vira whispered behind her telepathic veil. "They will be here soon, we just have to last a few more days."
He clenched his fists. "What if she attacks again before then?"
She fell silent for a long moment as a couple of men came and began shoveling dirt over the grave.
"Aqwyn also looked into the witch… It is as I suspected, she used to be a fairy godmother, but she fell in love with her godson and used her magic to draw his affections."
"Fairies can do that?"
"Charm spells are effective, but temporary. I imagine she used it to start with, and after that…"
"What? He fell in love with her?"
"I don't know… either way, such things are forbidden for our kind."
"Right, love is forbidden. Hexaphalia mentioned something about that…"
Vira nodded. "Fairies are not supposed to enter romantic relationships, especially not with their godchildren."
He took a moment to think. "Look, I can get relationships with godchildren being kinda weird, but… not at all? How does that make any sense? Fairy godmothers are all about love."
Vira hesitated. She had the same questions and even tried to raise them before the Fairy Queen during her trial, but it would be unprofessional to share such doubts with her godson. "Fairies are immortal, Kai, and humans are not… such relationships can only end one way—heartbreak. Too often, fairies become corrupted once their lover dies… And besides, we are duty-bound to spread love among mortals; to have such relationships ourselves would serve only to distract us."
"Don't they see the irony? Hexaphalia wanted a boyfriend, but the sisterhood said no, so she doubled down and became a witch—the exact thing they were trying to prevent." He clicked his tongue. "Sounds like a great system to me."
The fairy godmother remained silent.
A cold wind blew through the graveyard, and slowly, people began to disperse. Before she left, Felicia approached the Oathless.
"I never got to thank you," she said. "For saving me."
Kai opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
She crouched down and petted Bella's head. "I'm… I'm sorry for your loss."
The dog let out a deep sigh.
The fox-girl rose. "I'll see you," she said, and left with Evelyn.
Several minutes later, the crowd was completely gone, and only Kai and Bella remained beside the grave. He leaned down, running his hand through her fur. "Take as long as you need," he said. "I'm here for you."
***
Kai stood in the entry hall of the convention center, twirling Tom's car keys and waiting for Nekoko to finish her practice. His mind wandered, thinking of John's sacrifice and of what he might do if Hexaphalia attacked again.
No good deed goes unpunished. If he had to face her again and stand for what's right, he might be the one suffering the consequences, and though he wanted to believe he was capable of that, the truth was—he was scared. Scared of what would happen if he acted, and scared of what would happen if he didn't. The question was… which scared him more?
Lost in those gloomy thoughts, he didn't notice Nekoko standing beside him.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You have been looking kinda sad over the past couple of days."
"Ah… yeah," he scratched his head. "Actually… my neighbor passed away recently."
"Aww… I'm sorry. Did you know him well?"
"Not exactly, but… he was a good man."
They both fell silent for a long moment.
"Anyway," he jingled the keys, "shall we go?"
"Not yet," she smiled. "I wanna show you something." She beckoned him over and headed down a hallway, leading to the East Wing of the building.
"Okay…" he said slowly and followed.
While the West Wing of the building included the main stage, as well as the offices and maintenance rooms of the convention center, the East Wing had sections reserved for the various booths of attractions, activities, and merchandise stores.
Navigating the maze of covered up booths with familiar ease, Nekoko led the Oathless to a wide table hidden behind a curtain. She drew the curtain back, revealing a stack of boxes, each displaying a figurine of her cat-girl VTuber model.
Kai smiled. "Your secret merch," he bent down to get a better look. The figure was dressed in its characteristic maid outfit, holding a gun to her lips, blowing on the barrel, and winking. "Looks cool."
"It's my first figure, so I hope everyone likes it," she said, then closed the curtain. "But that's not all; I've got something else to show you." She led him off once again through the maze, to a long, closet-shaped object covered by a blue tarp. She lifted up the sheet, peeking under, and giggled.
"Here, have a look," she held it up for him, and he sent her a skeptical glance before leaning down to take a peek.
"Lightgrave!" His eyes went wide. The blade inside the long glass casing looked similar to the one he owned in design, but that was about where the similarities ended. "It looks so real."
"That's because it is made of metal and matches the size of the one in the game."
"It must weigh a ton."
"Only one way to find out," she giggled.
"No way," his jaw dropped. "Are we allowed to take it out?"
"Not now, unfortunately, but when the Expo starts, people will line up to hold it and take pictures." She let the tarp fall, covering the sword back up.
"That's pretty cool," he said as they started making their way back to the entrance.
"Are we… going to the gym again today?"
He hesitated. "We can, but I need to walk my dog first."
"You have a dog?"
"She was my neighbor's, but… I have been taking care of her ever since he died."
"Really?" She glanced at him. "That's very kind of you."
He shrugged. He supposed it did sound like a kind thing to do, but it didn't feel kind; rather, he felt responsible. He owed it to Bella for all the help she had given him over the past several months, and besides, John had given his life for him… taking care of Bella was the least he could do.
"Can I come with you?" Nekoko asked as they entered the car.
He blinked, not sure what she was referring to. "You mean… to walk Bella?"
She nodded.
"Sure," he shrugged and started the car. "Why not?"
***
It had taken some effort to get Bella out of the house, but once they reached the park, the depressed dog became more lively.
"She is beautiful," Nekoko walked beside Bella and ran her fingers through her fur.
"Yeah… She is still grieving, but I hope she'll get better soon. She has barely eaten anything over the past few days."
"Aww… poor thing."
They continued walking the path, crossing over a bridge and entering a small garden.
"Have you had time to try the program I told you about, for the VTuber art thing?" she asked.
"Only a little. Taking care of Bella kinda got in the way of things lately."
"That's fair… How did it go? You think you can get the hang of it?"
"Yeah, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot."
"I'm glad to hear that," she smiled. "Becoming a VTuber changed my life, and I think it will be really cool if you learn to create models that help people, the same way mine helped me."
"Was it really that important to you?"
She blushed. "O-of course! I've always struggled with making new friends and expressing myself in front of strangers… Becoming a VTuber helped me overcome my shyness—at least online." She pushed her thick glasses up her nose. "When I'm Nekoko, I feel like I can just be myself."
The Oathless considered that, appreciating how it helped her and how he might use his artistic skill to help others express themselves. It kinda sounded like what Lance was doing with his coaching—though in a much more limited capacity. "You are right, it would be cool," he said eventually. "But honestly, you didn't seem all that shy when we first met."
"That was different. You're a fan."
"So?"
"So…" she shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I felt comfortable because I figured… you already knew who I really was."
Kai took another moment to think it over. "Is that why you became a VTuber—to overcome your shyness?"
"That was a part of it, especially in the beginning, but then people seemed to enjoy it, and now… Now I feel like I have a duty to my fans, to do my best—and I don't want to disappoint them." She turned to face him. "That's why I want to get in shape, so next time I get an opportunity like the Expo, I can do the dance properly and give everyone a great performance."
His lips parted as he saw the determination in her eyes, and he smiled. "Sounds like you have a good motivation," he said. "I guess we better head to the gym, then."