<h4>Chapter 605: Lily’s Leaving!</h4>


    Lily''s Perspective moments after Kat disappeared.


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    Lily let out a long sigh as she stared at the spot Kat had vanished from. There was no sign of the pentagram now that Kat was gone and Lily felt herself a little sad about that fact. Kat was simply gone and there was no sign she''d even left.


    *Stop being so depressed Lily. She''s gone on journeys before and now that you''re dating she has all the more reason toe back. Perk up, you or Vivian will start mocking you for staring at the floor.* Lily sighed and straightened up, listening to her internalmentary. Saying the words, even in her mind, helped them be more real. Still, she didn''t expect Kat disappearing to hurt quite so much. So she took a seat back at the table and started to sip on her drink to not look like she was lost in her head.


    *Seriously why does this hurt so much? It''s nowhere near as bad as when Ste ripped out my heart of course so I can say I''ve been through worse but this isn''t as easy as it was before. Why though? How much has really changed? Kat would have done anything for me before, just as she would now. The fact that she gives me kisses now really shouldn''t make this so different.*


    Of course, that didn''t change the reality of the situation. Even knowing that she would soon be able to go with Kat in the future didn''t really help at the moment. It did however help pinpoint the problem. *I feel like I''ve been left behind? What? Why do I feel like I''ve been left behind? She''s not even doing anything dangerous! She''s just going for some training. Would I feel like this if she was just going down to the local dojo for martial arts training instead?*


    Lily tried to ignore the small part of her mind that confirmed that she would in fact still feel left behind if that happened, especially if Kat didn''t invite her along. Lily found herself a little annoyed with that part because Kat had warned her and had also nned it so it would be while she was getting her race changed.


    *Demons, can you set that up by the way?*


    Acknowledged. Acquaintance Lily wishes for Race Change to Memphis Beastkin in exchange for one Favour Token belonging to User Kat. Confirm?


    *Yes*


    Acknowledged. Final Warning. Change will be permanent and once confirmed this final time unavoidable. D.E.M.O.N.S will chase Acquaintance Lily down to the ends of existence to fulfill terms. Confirm?


    *Yes.*


    Lily braced herself for the transport… but nothing happened. When she opened her eyes again, she saw more text and felt a little silly.


    Acknowledged. Subject Lily please schedule time for procedure. Procedure requires at least twelve hours'' notice.


    *Ha. Haha. Woops. Um… can you schedule it for ten… er… ten thirty tomorrow? And can I ask for Nira to be involved?*


    Acknowledged.


    Lily looked at the burning ''acknowledged'' by itself. For some reason she could feel the finality radiating from the word. Something in her soul told her that the choice had been made and it could never truly be unmade. Perhaps she could change her race again in the future, but that would be a separate matter. Soon she would no longer be human and there was nothing she could do to stop it.


    *At least I spent weeks thinking about this. There isn''t any sense of regret which is also nice. It''s strange that I can feel the finality in that damned word. I wonder if that''s in my head or a real phenomenon. The fact that it connects to my mind makes that question a bit blurrier. If it''s just projecting the thought to my mind how real is it this finality?*


    "So, are you going to stay here the night or head back home?" asked Vivian suddenly snapping Lily out of her thoughts. When she looked around, she also saw that at some point the table had been cleared and a slight dusting of red crawled onto her face.


    "Sorry, I would have helped clean up if you''d told me" said Lily.


    "It''s fine, Callisto wouldn''t have let you help anyway," said Vivian waving off Lily''s concern, "but you didn''t answer my question. Are you staying here?"


    "Um… I mean…" Lily stopped talking to take a look outside and saw that it was already quitete and the sun had long set. At the same time it wasn''t like her home was far away.


    "You''re free to stay here you know? I bet Kat wouldn''t mind if you use her bed. She''s not around to take up space," said Vivian with a cheeky grin.


    Lily wanted to dismiss the idea immediately. It was a silly idea, she could just go home. But… the more she tried to convince herself it wasn''t a good idea, the better it seemed. Kat did have the better bed after all, it was newer but not so new as to be ufortable from disuse. It was a better mattress to begin with, and of course, it smelled like Kat, something Lily couldn''t deny was thergest draw.


    Still, it seemed wildly inappropriate to stay the night for that reason alone. Lily turned her gaze away from Vivian hoping that would help remove the idea from her mind but, when she turned to Sylvie, a second idea wormed its way into her mind.


    *Hmm. I know Kat shares with Sylvie asionally when she''s around… maybe that''s something I should do? It would give us bothpany for a night. I''m not Kat but perhaps she can still be a proper little sister for me. Plus I won''t be tempted to do anything weird if Sylvie is around.*


    Catching Sylvie''s eye Lily lifted one eyebrow and tried to ask what she thought with just a nce. Sylvie, being the smart cookie she was, understood the hidden question and took a few moments to turn it over in her own mind before nodding at Lily.


    Turning back to Vivian Lily steeled herself. "I''ll stay the night and then see my parents in the morning"


    Vivian looked between the two girls who now had smiles on their faces but didn''t say anything else. She just stood up, patted them both on the head and made her way to her office. With that done Sylvie and Lily headed off for a shower, and thenter hopped into bed. Sylvie was going to sleep a bit early but that was fine. For Lily it was quite early but she wanted to make sure she was awake in time to visit her parents before she left… and get back to Vivian''s house just in case she returned in the ce she was summoned.


    As she was getting ready to sleep, she found another message from D.E.M.O.N.S


    Subject Lily is to be notified that prior to the operation Subject is not to consume any more food or any liquid other than water.


    Well… I guess I don''t need to have breakfast. Giving Sylvie a quick hug she hopped out of bed and headed for Callisto''s room to let her know. Once that was done she tucked herself in and wrapped her arms around Sylvie before trying to go to sleep. It took a while, but Lily made sure to keep herself rxed and her eyes closed, not wanting to risk waking Sylvie or staying up toote.


    When she awoke, it was already nine o''clock so she quickly had a basic shower and got into her old clothes from yesterday before heading home. She greeted her mother as she headed for her room and changed into her least favourite outfit, an old one that had been used for yard work quite a few times and was originally her mother''s, though they no longer fit the older woman.


    When Lily made it to the lounge room where Evaline had the ironing board set up she waved and Evaline responded with a t sounding, "I see you stayed over at Kat''s. Was it really so hard to not crawl into her bed just days after asking her out?"


    Lily blushed furiously. "It''s not like that Mum!"


    "Oh, and if I was to ask Kat, who can''t lie, if you slept with her yesterday?" asked Evaline with a slight grin.


    Lily, realising the unintentional opportunity Evaline had provided, "Would easily be able to say no. Kat left on a Contractte yesterday after dinner. I stayed over, and I did sleep in her bed, but Kat was not in it at the time."


    Evaline narrowed her eyes at that. "Hmmm, I see. And what are you doing now?"


    "Well…" said Lilly awkwardly, "I thought I''d visit before getting sent in for that race change?"


    Evaline paused the iron above the dress she was working on before carefully setting it to the side. "That''s today?" Evaline''s voice was a slight growl.


    "Um… yes?" whispered Lily.


    "Why am I just now being informed?" asked Evaline heavily.


    "Ah… because… it was mostly just decided yesterday after Kat was called away?" Lily said but didn''t sound convincing. That was likely because she''d nned on it happening today or at least some time soon anyway.