Page 279 of Light Leech

“Too late, Mom,” Akna said. We all laughed, but the somber tone did not dissipate.

“I know, I know. Devóne, this is more important than any of this ze– than any of this empire of dirt and beef2. “

Boyband held his head down, now petting David and sniffing.

“Your father and I are sorry for being so absent lately. Know that it was never work that held us away from you.”

“Work in a way.”

“Yes, but this isn’t about lumens.”

“Right. Don’t let lumens distract you, bud.”

“We hope you already know that by now. We wouldn’t have been so distant if our other work wasn’t paramount to the world as we know it. Note as we know it. There is so much hidden from you, but we hope you’ll see the truth. There is too much to explain and I fear our few words will do the truth injustice. After you hear this, find the Luxists. They are your allies in a world full of liars.”

She gave directions to the monastery we were in at that very moment and instructed him to find a woman named Bhate Robin.

“Pause,” Denji told David.

“Where is she?” I asked.

“She left for Arabasia after the Eclaines died.”

“So she fled from the one place she was supposed to be?” Ralia asked.

Denji shook his head. “As far as I know, she was never told to stay. She was pretty high up so they must have called her back to the hub. Looks like the Eclaines underestimated how bad this would get.”

Boyband spoke softer than usual. His voice broke. “Just–” He cleared his throat. “Just resume the clip.”

David jiggled.

Colette continued. “Once you understand what we and the Luxists stand for, I hope you’ll understand how important this is to us. We’ve set everything up for you to continue our work. If we’re still here–I guess you’ll never hear this, but the plan wasn’t to dump everything on you. We wanted to bring you in when you were ready. This wasn’t some secret society. We just know the risks our work carries, especially where the world is now. We didn’t want you to lose your childhood to existential dread and duty.”

“Too late,” Kuni said. The somber tone would have kept us all silent if anyone else had said it. We laughed, light though it was. I was impressed with how sharp Kuni was and hoped he understood everything that was happening after our frequent conversations on the true state of the world.

“Water Hills is a mess,” Robierre said, “but we sent you there for this.”

Boyband looked back at me. His eyes were bloodshot, but I could see that he didn’t want consolation. He was ready for the reveal as much as me.

“Your father found the school after you had already begun elsewhere.”

“Wait, you transferred to Water Hills?” Ralia asked.

He nodded but was too focused to make a comment.

I focused, not missing anything as Collette continued. “We were so sorry to pull you from your friends. After hearing about your behavior problems at Water Hills, I wondered if it was our fault for pulling you away from the friends you made.”

“Those kids at Water Hills probably deserved your scorn,” Robierre said. “That is, if your complaints weren’t exaggerations.” He laughed but was quick to return to a somber tone. “We took you to Water Hills, knowing we could trust you. We, of course, had to put our hands into the PTA for valedictorian selection, aided by our generous donations, but that did not eliminate your part.”

“Honey, like we were saying, we didn’t want secrets. We were going to tell you everything when you graduated as a chosen pupil for the school’s top performers. We knew you hated that school–”

“As you should have.”

“But we wanted you to have as genuine of a schooling experience as you could. We had everything planned for the end. If that day has come without us… Well, here we are.”

“The school’s a bunch of elite-minded guk.”

Colette did not reprimand Robierre for that curse, but her groan was audible.