The Flower of Separation

"So what are you doing all the way out here alone?"

"Enjoying the view." Lillian pointed to the box on the side. "I checked on my order too, and found some new cakes that she would like. They are preparing an additional order of those."

Lucas sighed as he took a seat opposite her. "You truly spoiled that child."

"That is because Natalia is interesting. She is not good nor is she evil. It is rare to find a child with a balance of light and dark. Although my father is trying to strengthen her dark magic more, it always fails."

"That makes it sound like you only like her because she is useful.."

"I will leave it to your imagination."

"The past three days were a pain. But we learned a lot regarding the Empress powers."

"Right those butterflies. It seems she has similar abilities to me. I wonder if she has a sword too."

"Speaking of which, your other sword explains it."

She raised her eyebrows at this, "You\'ve seen it already"

"I have. But I\'ve never seen anything else apart from the spider lilies. I feel like there\'s something else to your sword."

Karen stopped reading and sighed, "The sword of Manjushage - actually there\'s a second release form for it. My sword is pure red with a ruby gem in the center which is my colour. Everyone else\'s swords are usually there colour right?"

Lucas nodded. "Yes."

"But sometimes that blood red sword would turn black. That sword really is stubborn. She has a mind of her own." Lillian sighed. "She dislikes to show her true ability at the start, and prefers to deceive the enemies."

"No wonder you\'re the owner." Lucas nodded.

Lillian kicked him under the table and he yelped in pain.

"The other forms are red threads, they are another symbol. I can use them to project - threads of some sort and those threads/ knots can be used to release some of my spiritual energy."

"So like webs?"

"Yeah, what\'s with all the questions?"

Normally Lucas is not the type to inquire. He is a magician who has lived for a long time, so he most-likely has this information already.

"Nothing, just don\'t you think it sounds familiar?"

Lillian realized where he was getting at and looked away, "T--that won\'t work on me you know."

"Yes yes"

But she knew that Lucas raised a valid point, they have similar powers. It was something she first noticed after she returned to the Ageha family, and they went on their first job together. To think they would have similar abilities.

\'I wonder even now if there is a meaning to it.\'

"If you\'re going to stay here, at least do some work"she said, pointing to the stack of paperwork.

"You\'re doing work when you\'re in a nice cafe like this." He picks up one of the buns from the plates. "They gave you all this food but you\'re not eating."

Her eyes twitched annoyed. "Aren\'t you too laid back? Just the other day a forbidden beast attacked you under my brother\'s orders."

"What did you want me to hide?"

"I thought you would return to the tower for a while."

Lillian also believed this would be the best decision. It seems her father and Eric are planning something large. They keep provoking Lucas because they do not want him to intervene. Over the last few years Lucas would return to the tower to recuperate his mana. Since there are magical properties there that differ from staying in the capital.

"If I did, Miss Lillian would be lonely again."

Her cheeks burned red and she stood up. She picked up a fork with some cake on it and shoved it in Lucas\' mouth.

"I never said I was lonely!"

"Yeah I think you forget that we have a connection. I can tell what you are thinking."

Lillian looked away. "I just thought quite some time has passed since we were last separated for long. Although it is a necessity during these times, it just felt strange."

She didn\'t quite understand what she was saying. \'What do I mean by strange?

Lucas lips curve to a smile. "Well even for me it is troubling if we are apart for long."

Geh he looks so smug about this. Lillian sat back down and coughed. "You\'re not going to ask me about sir Teo?" She decided to quickly shift the topic.

It felt like if they continued on this one any longer it could potentially be dangerous for her.

"I already saw with my powers that you were approaching him. So if he isn\'t dead yet I figured he has some use."

Lillian nodded. "He has the mark of the dragon god."

Lucas blinked surprised. "Huh, now that is something I haven\'t seen in awhile. So what time frame is he from?"

She explained everything Teo told her and a serious look appeared in his eyes.

"The world merger huh?"

"Have you heard of it?"

"Yeah it was attempted in the past. Although it is not common that there are other worlds out there, there are still a majority who knew of them. Back then there were more people with this information. There were many who tried to link the worlds but failed."

"They died?"

"Their souls were devoured by a soul eater or heads taken by the death god." Lucas casually said this as he ate a strawberry. "Either way nobody survived."

So it is risky, just having a woman with light magic and a powerful mage won\'t do any good?

"But the thing he told you about a woman with light magic and the mage. I don\'t think anybody has tried that before, it may actually work out."

"I see." Lillian quickly turned depressed at the subject. Although Lucas told her yesterday that she is only following the Empress because of her interest. It did not dispel her unease.

Even if Lucas thinks this way now, what about the present? It was still far too risky.

"That woman the dragon god guy mentioned I think I met her before."

Lillian blinked startled. "Huh? Wait that means-"

"I am a powerful mage, it is easy to travel to other worlds."

Her eyes twitched annoyed at those words. This man is truly hard to control and understand.

"It was a long time ago back when she was still a Princess. Back then she was having a hard time since she fell for two people, but her resolve to unify and get rid of the corruption was admirable."

"I doubt that if she had romance on her mind." In order to unify and get rid of corruption, one must discard useless emotions. She would not have gotten this far if she didn\'t do that.

"That depends on the individual. There are those people where romance destroys their lives, and weakens them. That is what you are familiar with. But there are those where romance acts as a sign to get stronger. Lyn would fall under the latter. Although it caused her a great amount of pain and suffering, she didn\'t regret falling for them both."

"I have no need for such useless things."

"Really? I thought you two were quite similar."

Lillian frowned at those words. "That woman sounds like a saint, she sounds like somebody with a good heart. How can we possibly be similar?"

"The personality is different but your strength and determination to achieve your goals is no doubt the same." Lucas trailed off. "Does it bother you that much to be compared to good people?"

*UNEDITED*