She sees the light ahead of them before any of her crew, a gathering near the ceiling of the Neath and then an arc downwards into the black waters of the zee. She throws her arm before her eyes, and is still left blinking spots out of her gaze.
"What was that?" a crewmember calls out in alarm.
"I don't know," she replies, "but we're checking it out."
There's murmurs, but her crew do as commanded.
"Rena! Be nice!" comes from further in, and a girl comes forwards, elbowing aside her friend who moves rather grouchily. "Come in, we don't get adults here much so you better follow our rules."
The girl giggles, even as her friend rolls their eyes, and sketches a curtsy, pushing the door open wide enough for the two women.
"Come in! Come in! We'll lay down a feast! We got victuals and decorative mushrooms galore!"
Kim offers a quick nod and a twitch of a smile to the little girl. She likes children, never had the chance to have any of her own.
Once inside, however, her manner turns clinical. "We need a quiet, private place so I can tend to my friend's wounds. If possible."
"Thank you. Could you take us?" She gathers the injured judgement close to her.
"Sure. This way." And she leads them through yet more cramped, labyrinthine halls to a bedroom decorated heavily with brocaded cloths and paintings. "Here! Uh, medical stuff - we got some bandages? Somewhere. I'll go get them." And she scampers off.
Lillian glances over at her rescuer. "Hey. Thanks, for helping me out. I'm fine, though. Are you okay?"
"I- I'm fine. I was part of the group sent to kill you." That was blunt. Honest though, and Kim is nothing if she's not honest. "I'm not going to, though. Kill you. I think they're wrong about you. At least, I think they're wrong. I've never seen anyone as bright as you."
She directs the girl to sit down, so she can inspect the wound. "I'm Kimberly Fett. Kim, usually."
"...I don't think humans'd be able to kill me all that easily. And the sailors named me Lillian."
“Nice to meet you. Hold still.”
Kim feels around the wound to see if the bullet is still inside.
Her blood is exceptionally hot. Scaldingly so, even with her trying to suppress it.
The bullet's not easily findable, but there doesn't seem to be an exit hole.
"What're you looking for?" Lillian asks, shifting uncomfortably.
Kim flinches back with every touch of her blood, but continues none the less. “I’m trying to get the bullet out. It’ll fester.”
She pauses. “At least, that’s how it works in humans.”
She focuses - "It's keeping me from healing, but I don't think I can push it out. Can I have a knife? ...What does 'fester' mean?"
Kim draws a knife and hands it to Lillian.
The thought that she was handing her a weapon to end Kim’s life never crossed Kim’s mind.
Lillian would not, actually, need a knife to kill her, though it'd certainly be cleaner and with less risk to bystanders.
She feels along her front - then stabs herself through her shoulder. The bullet is closer to this side, after all. She widens the gash, pain clear on her face, and then dives in to dig out the bullet.
As soon as it's removed, the wound drips and merges closed, only a golden, flaky residue and the stains on her clothes indicating it was ever there.
“You really are a judgement.” Kim doesn’t sound disappointed. Just curious.
She doesn’t know how to react to this. Lillian is capable and miraculous and Kim doesn’t know what to do now.
"Ah - half of one. My mother says my father was a devil. I heard the Judgements couldn't see the Neath, so - I came here. To buy myself time, the Bazaar still has this city and then two more left."
“You came here to see what you were missing out on?”
Kim shakes her head sadly. “The Bazaar isn’t the only thing with a stranglehold on the city.”
She strangley didn’t include the Ascedants in this group, despite the fact they did their best to keep the Great Chain going.
"No. The Judgements objected to my mother breaking the Chain. My half-sister tried to hide me, but the other Judgements could still peer into her domain, so I left before they could send a world-dragon after us. ...That still might happen, but I should be safe here until the seventh city ends."
“What man isn’t.”
Kim takes a steadying breath. “I was sent to kill you for falling from the Chain. A blesemphous action. But you don’t strike me as someone who would do such a thing lightly. Did you demon father tell you to leave?
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