"Hey!" Wyld says, glancing at the two of them. "Are we - interrupting?"

"Not overly so. You must be Wyld and Luc'."

"Yeah; the newest ones. We've spoken to a few of Luc's alts so far - though none of mine - and also Luke and Leia..."

"Here is a chance, then. I am Occlus, this is Ani. Say hello, pet."

"Hello," she says, smiling and stretching a bit. She sighs, then straightens enough talking isn't awkward - still leaning pretty heavily on Occlus, of course. "It's good those two are making friends..."

"They're great. And Leia's kids are adorable." She sits near them, keeping her hand in Luc's.

"And here I'd thought all my alts were terrified of babies."

She laughs.

"I bet most of them haven't seriously thought about ever having any."

" - Have you?"

"A bit..."

"The beginnings of thoughts."

"Your kids are really delightful," she says, cheerfully. "And..." A more melancholy shrug. "We're busy with war in our own world. So it's not something we could do anytime soon. But - I had the thought."

"They're good kids."

"A war...?"

"Yeah. It's." Awkward shrug. "I grew up a slave. When I broke free, I Exalted as a Lunar - becoming one of our world's sorts of magic people. Lunars protect things - the world - and we bring all the rage of Creation to bear - that's who we are on a really fundamental level. So I dedicated my life to stopping slavery. And raiding caravans and stuff was really fun? But I've been actually taking territory for about two years now - "

She stops, frowning.

"And I freed thirty thousand people a couple days ago and it doesn't feel real, isn't enough."

"Also there's more problems. The original Exalts were made to overthrow the world's creators, who were assholes, but some of those creators - the Yozis - survived and are now continuing to be assholes, is a big one."

"Personally - Luc' and I met a few months before I declared war on basically everyone. We're pretty much soulmates, so we recognized each other. Luc' remembered me from a past life, and I just knew she was important... She spent a year pretending to be a Solar - a type of Exalt on the side of Lunars - then I learned she was actually an Infernal - a type of Exalt on the opposite side, the Yozis' side. And then the Yozis got pissed at her when she switched to my side. That caused a lot of problems for us, which Elieyha and Naruto have mostly fixed, but I swore to destroy the Yozis for hurting Luc' and I meant it."

It's not nearly as coherent as her usual explanation, but she's tired and also a bit off balance.

"Don't get so caught up in your grand dreams that you neglect the smaller ones. Little joys are what keep you going. You are as important as any of those you would save; more so, perhaps, if you can continue having an outsize effect on the world."

"Awwww, you're sweet."

"And older, and long experienced at matters of war."

"I don't think our kind of person is cut out for wars," Ani says, softly. "I've spent most of my life in one or another. It's... Miserable."

Awkward shrug - but she nods. "Just - I can't do nothing."

"Nothing is precisely what you will be doing, if you burn yourself up trying to do too much too quickly."

She glances away.

"You're a good kid, and meaning well's worth a lot," Ani says, softly. "But - there's ways to help that aren't throwing yourself into all the things you hate. Do you have lieutenants you can trust?"

"Yeah... But we don't exactly have Exalts crawling out the woodwork, and I'm the best specialized for leading armies."

Hum. "What would they need, to replace your war effort with mundane people?"