Another Way

Chapter 24: Damnation

"^Aurelia... was Pollux's mother.^"

The words echoed in Sue's mind, all the implications hitting her one after another. This entire building once belonged to Pollux's family before they were banished, making her feel uneasy sitting here to begin with. Even more shocking, though, was Patina's mention of Pollux, and in such a casual tone at that.

The night kin fox was hiding from Moonview for a reason, after all.

"P-Pollux's?"

"^Yep! You know of him, right? Swear I saw you hanging out with him back at the feast a few days ago, eh?^"

Sue had gone from confused to downright shocked in a span of just a few words, and she wasn't even sure which part of Patina's response did her in. Her having apparently seen through Pollux's disguise? The fox being present so close to Moonview being treated so lightly, as if he were just another villager?

The latter would absolutely be preferable one day, but they all knew that it wasn't so yet.

Regardless of which of these implications had stunned her more, she was left sitting on Patina's contraption of a seat mute and motionless. Her shock was palpable to the other two as they gathered ingredients from all over the workshop. Patina's upbeat, crackling chuckling mixed in with Celestica's slow, almost entirely flat string of 'ha's.

"^What's so surprisin'? I'm sure ya know him.^"

"I-I do, but... how do you know about him? Or even see him?^"

"^Ahaha. Oh Sue, that fox's good at his disguisin', but that sure ain't true about him focusing for more than five minutes, ha! Hard not to notice once he stops masking himself on accident, and that sorta stuff happens all the time. Even happened at that feast with you all, I think? I reckon I wasn't supposed to see your little campfire, pfft.^"

That makes way too much sense for Pollux.

"I see. But in that case, don't others notice him too?"

"^Occasionally.^"

"^Yep. Nobody's really surprised to see him in here, not anymore. No point in raisin' a fuss about it, especially since all he ever does is hang out with Spark or other kiddos, anyway. Or sometimes be a lil' scamp with Solstice and Root, pfft.^"

Sue acknowledged the response with an idle nod while her mind tried to fit that revelation in. Considering all the tension, considering Root's action, she certainly didn't expect Pollux's presence here to be such a non-issue for most. At the same time, said priest was far and away the most militant person against night kin being present here, so it only made sense for everyone else to be more laid back in that regard.

Still highly messed up, especially with people of Moonview merely looking the other way as opposed to wholeheartedly accepting him.

And with recent events... Sue doubted that even that half-solution would remain in place for much longer.

"Suppose that makes sense, but... I worry it might change for the worse with what happened to D- Night Mother's altar."

"^D... what?^"

"N-nevermind."

"^With regards to the events you mentioned. Were you present when they took place, and if so, are you capable of clarifying certain contradictions we have overheard?^"

"^Oh yeah, with the way some people have been telling it, you'd think Ginger hit that ugly thing with a roundhouse kick from half a Moonview away.^"