Anachronistic: Endless Masquerade

Final | The Hazards of Love Epilogue

- Final -

The static churning in Lilith's stomach hadn't disappeared, but meeting Medusa had calmed it. She had met an actual youkai living in Eden. Not sneaking around, not hiding in the gutters, but actually thriving. Still alive after a decade of working in the city. Lilith's own future terrified her, a feeling that would likely never go away completely, but now she knew it wasn't hopeless.

        I've made it, Dad. I found the new life you wanted for me in Eden.

        Her attention stalled on making it down the church's gnarled steps in one piece, but once she reached the bottom intact, she looked back up to her girlfriend. A new life at Pandora's side. The hunter leapt forward, landing on the cobbles beside her. Lilith flinched, not expecting her to bypass the stairs altogether. But then, wasn't it just like Pandora to choose the direct route?

        Lilith couldn't help but smile. "Are you in a hurry or something?"

        "Not really, why?" Pandora yanked at the chain across her stomach, flicking her pocket watch into the air where she caught it with a flourish, then checked the clock face. "Was there something you wanted to do before going home?" she asked, ignoring completely that her actions might have been the source of Lilith's question.

        "That's not what I meant. And I assumed we would be heading straight there. It'll be dark soon enough."

        Pandora clicked her watch shut and replaced it. "You're right. I want your first impression to be in good light."

        First impression of what, her home? Images of lavish estates like the ones setting her romance novels flooded forth. But where would a city as crowded as Eden have anything like that? She didn't understand but got the feeling asking Pandora was wasted breath, so it was best they start moving.

        "Which way? Do you live here by the edge, or closer to the city center?"

        "Back by the port, actually."

        Lilith turned to the street they had arrived down, ready to retrace their path to the elevator. The trip up had felt like dying. She wasn't keen on repeating it. She could endure it again as long as she was with Pandora, but luckily it was a trial she wouldn't need to face. Instead, the hunter's footsteps clattered away from her. When she turned back, she found Pandora waving her along from thirty feet out.

        "Come on. If we get separated before I show you where home is we may never see each other again."

        "Didn't we come from the other way?" Lilith asked, chasing after her.

        "I figured you wouldn't want to take the elevator again. There's a stairwell in this direction."

        "You promise not to jump down these ones?" Lilith asked, falling into step beside Pandora.

        The hunter paused, then glanced back at the dilapidated abomination leading up to the church's door. A smile cracked her face, then her hand slapped down onto Lilith's scalp to jostle her hair out of place.

        "Very funny, wise-ass," Pandora sneered. With Lilith's hair thoroughly ruined, the hunter's grip fell away. Her hand dropped to her side where she pressed it into Lilith's, locking their fingers together. "I promise," she whispered.

        The route they followed was relentlessly straightforward with only a slight inward curve to break the monotony. Lilith wondered if it ever ended, or if it circled the entire city to swallow its own tail on the other side. The dull ache growing in her feet certainly made it feel infinite. But worse, it was bland. After hundreds of steps, the unchanging scenery was starting to grow tired even to her. As a resident, Pandora must have been bored to tears.