Lucky Rabbit

Thaniel was snuggling Pandy so tightly that she was surprised she hadn’t lost any LF. Though even if she had, she wouldn’t have cared, because she was fairly certain that the only reason she was still in one piece was because the little boy refused to let her go.

Every time Lian – whose full name, she now knew, was Killian – leaned away from his brother, he glared at Pandy. Those glares were filled with so much distrust and dislike that she all but dissolved beneath them. In fact, she was certain that if Lian was only a few years older, he might well have been able to melt her to bunny butter with a look. Because Pandy had finally figured out where she was.

Lian, the handsome, bookish lad who was trying to avoid his demon-summoning father, was Gacha Love’s penultimate villain. He spent his school days winning over the heroine with his good looks and melancholy ways, leading many players to wonder why he wasn’t one of the love interests.

Of course, it was eventually revealed that he planned to lure the heroine away and sacrifice her in order to resurrect…yes, his little brother, who was killed by the heroine’s father during a raid on Killian’s home when he was away at school. Which made Thaniel the brother, who was supposed to be dead at this very moment. It also meant that the stern man leading the squad of soldiers was Clara Reedsley’s father, Lord Captain Reedsley.

Which also meant that by saving Thaniel, Pandy had completely broken the game. If Thaniel was alive, then Lian wouldn’t be driven mad by anger and grief. At least a dozen other people wouldn’t die as part of his plans, including one of the male love interests, though which one it was depended on which path the heroine chose.

Of course, that also meant that Lian wouldn’t summon a demon, and in so doing, corrupt his own Light magic into Dark. Which, in turn, meant that Lian still had his inborn Light magic, and had to know that Pandy was, in fact, something other than a bunny. Presumably, he’d sensed it the first time he ever touched her, but still believed their father would keep Thaniel safe, so he hadn’t forced the issue.

Pandy’s tiny bunny brain was spinning from the ramifications of her discovery, and she was running out of ways to say “as a result of”, so she turned her attention back to what was going on around her. Which was a lot.

Soldiers were turning the manor upside down, including Lian and Thaniel’s rooms. All except this one. Out of either respect or concern for the small boy who had so nearly fallen victim to their unannounced investigation, they were keeping Thaniel’s playroom for last. In fact, Lord Reedsley had even returned Alex and the Dark Magician to Thaniel, along with a cryptic remark about taking its story to heart.

Lian and Thaniel were under guard, though that was supposedly for their protection. Apparently, someone had reported the Father – whose name was actually Lord Bryan Conroy, Viscount Dunning – for demon summoning. That part actually wasn’t surprising, but Pandy had no idea who could possibly have done the reporting.

As far as she knew, no one came to the house other than the family and their three servants, none of whom had any reason to risk their livelihoods by calling the authorities down on their master. Even Cassie, who was perpetually complaining about something, actually had an incredibly easy job, given that no one supervised her, and she did as little as humanly possible.

Thaniel flinched as he shifted, drawing Lian’s attention away from Pandy, which was honestly a relief. For a fourteen-year-old child, his pale blue eyes could give quite a withering glare. As soon as those eyes turned away from Pandy, however, they became warm as summer sunshine, and Lian ran a hand down his brother’s arm to the injured hand.

“Are you all right?” the proto-villain asked his brother solicitously.

Thaniel nodded. He’d been cleaned up, his wounds healed by the cleric attached to the assault team, and he had on a fresh nightgown. Everyone had hoped he would go back to sleep, since it was still dark outside, but no such luck. Every time the curly lashes fluttered down to rest on pale cheeks, the boy would jerk upright again, his arms clenching around Pandy in the process.

Pandy, of course, was very patient with this. That was only partially because her back legs still weren’t working correctly. Mostly, she just wanted to offer Thaniel as much comfort as her soft, fuzzy body could provide.

“My chest hurts a little,” Thaniel finally admitted, releasing Pandy just long enough to rub at the thick scar just visible at the neck of his nightgown.

Lian frowned, lifting a hand. It glowed a soft white as it passed over Thaniel’s chest, not incidentally crossing Pandy’s body in the process. The frown deepened further as Pandy felt a warm tingling beneath his touch. It tickled, and she sneezed.

Use One (1) Corruption Point to resist Purify?

Pandy thought sighing internally at the waste. She’d actually gotten several more Corruption Points as Thaniel cried and bled all over her, so she still had seven, but every time Lian did this, she had to spend one, and it was becoming just a smidge irritating.

Thaniel giggled. “Oh, Bunny,” he whispered, leaning down to bury his face in Pandy’s fur. She hadn’t gotten a bath, so she was still dirty and smelled of smoke, but the boy didn’t seem to care. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

Well, that made two of them. Pandy hadn’t been sure what to expect when a small horde of soldiers stormed into the burned-out laboratory on Lian’s heels. Her consciousness was firmly back in her rabbit body, but she still hadn’t been able to move, and when one of the soldiers lifted her limp form by its back legs, she thought her brief stint as a coddled pet had come to an end. But then Thaniel’s tears had redoubled, and he reached out his blistered little arms for her, and that was that.

“Thaniel,” Lian said a little desperately, “don’t you want to go back to bed? The soldiers will be done soon, and they’ll realize this has all been a terrible misunderstanding. You’ll feel better if you get some sleep.”

The little boy shook his head, and Pandy recognized the look on his face. For the most part, Thaniel was a sweet and easygoing child, but there were times when he decided he was not going to do whatever he’d just been told to do, and this was one of those times. He usually wasn’t blatant about his defiance, but somehow the thing would simply never happen.

“Where’s Daddy?” Thaniel asked, not for the first time.

Lian sighed. “He’ll be here when they find him, Thaniel,” he replied patiently. “When things like this…arise, everyone involved is located and questioned. That’s why they brought me here, too. As soon as they find Father, they’ll bring him home, and he’ll be able to explain everything.”

The expression on his face directly contradicted the soothing tone of his voice, but Thaniel didn’t seem to notice. “Okay,” the boy said, just as he had every time this was explained to him. “I’ll just stay up until he gets here.”

Lian closed his eyes for a moment, looking as if he was praying for patience. Pandy wasn’t sure why. He was a smart kid, so surely he’d seen that coming. But now Lian switched tacks. He turned his attention to Pandy, holding out his hands. “Why don’t I give the rabbit to someone? It’s filthy. Look, there are already stains on your new nightshirt.”

They all looked, and it was true. Greasy black stains covered the front of Thaniel’s nightgown in a roughly bunny-shaped pattern. Pandy could even make out two long ear-shaped smears along the neckline.

“No,” Thaniel said, and his expression shifted from ‘passive resistance’ to ‘very active resistance’. He pulled away from his brother, clutching Pandy protectively, and sniffled as tears rose into his eyes for the first time since the last time Lian tried this.

Lian started to speak, perhaps to apologize, or perhaps to insist, but Pandy would never know, since the door opened at that moment. The soldier guarding it stiffened, then saluted and stepped aside as Lord Captain Reedsley entered.

“Dismissed, Frilam,” Reedsley said, and the younger soldier snapped another salute before turning sharply and leaving the room. Pandy’s sharp ears told her his footsteps stopped just on the other side of the door, and didn’t move away when it clicked shut.

Frilam, Frilam…. Why did that name ring a bell in relation to Gacha Love? After a moment, Pandy remembered, and she would have snapped her fingers if she had proper fingers to snap. Clara Reedsley had a bodyguard named Frilam, and the man had been one of Killian’s first victims. The assumption had been that the guard just got in the way, but what if Killian had actually been slowly picking off each of the soldiers who were present the night Thaniel died?

Pandy shivered, looking up at the serious face of the teenage boy with his arm wrapped around his little brother. Somehow it was even worse to think that this loving brother had methodically murdered every single person who might have had anything to do with Thaniel’s death. Whatever happened to her as a result, it was worth it to know that these two boys weren’t going to be separated by a tragedy that left one horribly dead, and the other twisted into a monster.

Reedsley pulled off his helmet, running a hand through the sweaty, graying hair beneath. He wasn’t strictly handsome, with a nose that was a little crooked and quite a bit too large, but he had eyes of the same bright sky-blue as the prototypical Clara. Of course, they weren’t shining with innocence and protagonist-power, and in fact looked quite tired at the moment.

“We’re sorry to have frightened you both so badly,” he said, bowing his head slightly. He actually managed to smile at Thaniel, who was trying to hide behind his brother. “We take reports of demonic activity very seriously, and giving no warning before our arrival is as much for your sake as ours. When those possessed by or controlling demons realize they’ve been discovered, things can go…badly.”

His blue eyes darkened, and he sighed. “We’ve found nothing definitive, exactly as you said, Lord Killian. Unfortunately, everything in your father’s lab was burned beyond salvaging, though there’s enough there to see that he may have been, ah, exceeding the limits of his license as a practicing necromancer. I wish it hadn’t been sealed under a family lock. Then we could have ruled out any malfeasance much more easily.” 

Lian stiffened. “But he is licensed, Captain. And if you have no proof that he, or anyone in this household, was practicing demon-summoning, then-”

The soldier raised a gauntleted hand, stilling Lian’s angry response. “I said we found nothing definitive,” he said. “What do you know about your groundskeeper?”

Lian blinked. “George? He’s worked here as long as I can remember. Since Grandfather’s time, probably. He’s very loyal.”

“Loyal enough to help your father steal bodies from the local graveyard, or store demonology tools in his house?” Reedsley snapped, eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he was far from the tired and slightly apologetic middle-aged man he’d seemed a moment before.

“No!”

It was Thaniel who responded, and both men turned to look at him. The boy had set his battered but mostly intact book on the chaise beside him, and now he lowered Pandy to his lap so he could pick it up instead. Shoving it out in front of him, he glared at Lord Captain Reedsley.

“Mommy and Daddy wrote this book for me and Lian because Daddy met a scary man when he was a little boy. That man was bad, and wanted Daddy to do bad things with his Dark magic. They wanted Lian an’ me to know to be careful, ‘cause one of us might have Dark magic, too.”

The little boy glared defiantly at the soldier, who seemed flummoxed. “They never would have made a book like that if Daddy was the one being naughty. So I know Daddy was one of the good Dark elementalists.” He stumbled a bit over the long word, his knuckles white as he gripped the book.

Lian and Reedsley exchanged looks, and then the older man rubbed his face. “Lord Nathaniel, I’m sorry if you felt I insulted your father. I have nothing but the utmost respect for those with Dark magic who choose to use that power in service to the kingdom. It’s a difficult road, and often a thankless one.”

He drew in a deep breath, focusing on Lian again. “That said, we found definite signs that your groundskeeper has been illegally exhuming bodies, but no indication of what happened to those bodies. There were also certain herbs growing in a field nearby that are rarely used for any good purpose.”

Now that the Father was no longer under attack, Thaniel sat back, scooping Pandy up again. She found herself pressed tightly against the solid cover of the book, and wiggled in response, glad to find that she seemed to have recovered complete control of her body. Her tail had even reappeared at some point, to her probably-excessive relief.

“Have you found George yet?” Lian asked, face tight.

Reedsley hesitated, then shook his head. “No,” he admitted. “Young Cassie seems to know nothing,” that did not come as a surprise to Pandy, “and Marta says that while she knew Dark magic was being practiced, she had no reason to believe its use was illegal. No one else in town had any idea anything was going on, including the local priest, mayor, and constable.”

“And how did the priest manage to miss freshly turned graves?” Lian asked sharply. “I’d be focusing on him, not the family of a man who actually went through the extreme rigors of getting and maintaining a proper license for Dark magic.”

“Which is exactly why we’d like to speak to Viscount Dunning,” Lord Captain Reedsley said. “I’m sure he could clear all of this up. In his absence, however, we must continue to process the evidence as it appears before us.”

“And of course you had no idea my father was away,” Lian said.

One corner of Reedsley’s mouth lifted, the only sign that Lian had scored a point. “Of course not,” the soldier said smoothly. “That was simply an unfortunate coincidence.”

A sharp rap came at the door, and Reedsley opened it. The soldier named Frilam whispered something to the captain, who nodded, his face settling into a grim expression. When the quiet conversation ended, Reedsley closed the door again, turning back to the two boys.

With a deep sigh that sounded genuinely regretful, Reedsley said, “I’m sorry to inform you that the body of Lord Bryan Conroy, Viscount Dunning, has been located just a few hours’ ride from Newham. It seems that he was on his way home when he ran afoul of bandits. He and the coachman died in the resulting fight.”

Lian went utterly still, eyes wide and face drained of all color. Thaniel simply melted down. Grasping Pandy and his book, he began to wail, fresh tears streaming down his face. Pandy stretched up as high as she could, licking the little boy’s cheeks comfortingly as he sobbed unconsolably.

+1 Corruption Point for Drinking the Tears of the Innocent

+1 Corruption Point for Drinking the Tears of the Innocent

+1 Corruption Point for Drinking the Tears of the Innocent

+2 Corruption Points for Bathing in the Tears of the Innocent

Pandy ignored the messages, distantly grateful that she had gained a bit more of a buffer between herself and discovery. That…wasn’t right, though. In the game, no one ever found out what happened to Lian’s father. In fact, during the battle between Villain Killian, Clara, and her chosen love interest, Killian accused Clara’s father of abducting and killing his own father. It was supposed to be yet another reason why Killian turned to evil.

So what else had changed? How had Pandy saving Thaniel resulted in the Father dying at the hands of common bandits? More importantly, what was going to happen to Thaniel – and Pandy – now?