From the Vast

Chapter 22: Solace

Autumn had no idea how her daughter-in-law was managing while having to carry so much weight on her shoulders.

The Indeedee sighed under her breath, pondering in silence with only her shawl and a freshly grabbed breakfast to accompany her. Yesterday was intense despite her not having anywhere near as much of a role in all this as Aria, intense enough to lead her to take today off from her usual duties. The little ones would get taught in time; one session of practicing Protects under her watch wouldn't doom anyone.

Which—

*bang!*

The muffled, distant sound jolted Autumn upright, briefly snapping her out of her previous thoughts. She could've sworn she heard a familiar grunt accompanying it shortly afterwards, worrying her a fair bit. If nothing else, it was a good idea to check up on just what had happened there before resuming her original plan.

Now, where was she at?

One day without her watch wouldn't doom the village's little ones, but the same couldn't really be said for Anne, especially if Aria really came clean with all her white lies. None of which Autumn could blame her for, none of which she hoped Anne would blame her for in the long run either, but still damaging once they were forcibly revealed.

Or even before then, if what Garret had described of the Gardevoir's sudden awakening and the following discussion was any indication.

No matter how Anne would react to Aria's honesty, she would need someone there with her afterwards more than ever, and Autumn was more than willing to provide all the comfort needed.

And then some.

Ember's whereabouts were much more of an enigma. By the time the elderly psychic woke up, the lil' fox was gone despite spending most of the preceding night huddling tight next to her. Hardly easy to sleep beside such an intense, emotional warmth, but Autumn made it work, mostly by tossing the entirety of her usual array of blankets into the far corner.

The Indeedee just hoped the Braixen had run over to Anne once she woke up. Their bond, the little of it Autumn got to sense for herself directly, felt as unbreakable as between herself and Garret. Of course they would be each other's greatest comfort. It was by far the most logical place for the fox to have ended up at.

But at the same time, with what had happened with Cinder still fresh in her memory... the entire topic sent shivers down her body.

Shivers that she then used to shake the whole unpleasant strand of thought well off. Her fretting like this wouldn't do anyone any good; if Ember really was already with Anne at the clinic, then she'd be seeing both of them in not too long, anyway. There, a much better subject to focus on instead.

Autumn knew it wouldn't be easy to find something to relax or at least distract Anne from the upcoming vote with all the stress and fears likely to be going through her body, but there were still options. She could tell stories, be it with young Garret or even from her own childhood; she could curiously ask about the parts of the human world that were unlikely to tie into the girl's traumatic past; she could just provide a ton of physical comfort. Anything to ease this terrible load—the kind that nobody ever ought to have to struggle with.

And especially not a child.

The Indeedee was in equal parts split between wanting and very much not wanting to run into either of the three elders on her way to the clinic. Calling them out on what they were doing was earned and justified, and she doubted she would've been able to stop herself from giving Ana and especially Celia a piece of her mind if they crossed paths, but it sure wouldn't help with the upcoming vote.