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.
"Hiro doesn't like sharing secrets, and Senna's not around too much. Maybe, though."
"Sometimes secrets are better kept to yourself," Kim says, nodding. She doesn't know Hiro, but she knows how damaging the truth can be, even when it seems a small thing.
"Are you going to use your sneaking powers for good, once you acquire them?" Kim says with a mock stern look, slightly ruined by the smirk in her lips.
Kim wonders if she's reading too much into Rena's look, but knows what she means. Until the Protecterat found her, she was living hard. 'Changes' could only be good things.
She does agree with Lillian, though rescuing her was the big change in Kim's life. She's not sure what she's going to do now, apart from keep her safe.
"Until now I would've blamed blasphemers for that. I suppose it's always been this way," she muses.
"Before today I wouldn't have even thought to question if life would be better without them. It's still a strange thought."
Melancholy steals over Kim for a moment, and she clenches her fist. She shakes it off quickly, letting a blank look fall over her face, like a mask.
"The Judgments are the highest power," Kim says. "The rule the Great Chain of Being and ensure that life in the Neath continues."
A sideways look at Lillian. "At least, that's what I was told. In any case, the Masters boss us around and the Judgements boss everyone," she says to Sophie.
"The Judgements are actually the ones who enforce death, it's one of their rules, and the reason true death is rare in the Neath is that here's hidden from their light."
True death. Final death. And not beings of pure light and life, but enforcers of death. Huh. And here she was thinking that they only ate the souls of blasphemers and those deserving.
"The Protectorate sure got things wrong," Kim says, not sure if she's sad or happy about that fact.
"I suppose that's planned. Nothing more frightening or awe-inspiring than something you don't really understand."
"...I'm not sure they actually think that much about other beings, unless someone's transgressing."
"I much prefer your way," Kim says. "I'll do everything I can to help you."
She almost says that she has nothing else, but that isn't pertinent when a few hours ago, she was going to kill her.
"Don't thank me yet, we've got a long way to go before you can change anything."
Kim still feels the rush of warm affection, despite her own words.
Kim's rendered speechless for a moment, her heart thudding in her chest. Glad?
She laughs a little, and clears her throat. "Yeah...well, you too."
"All right, all right, sorry to upset your delicate stomachs," Kim says teasingly.
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