D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

"Grammy just sort of… existed after that. She didn't really do anything. I mean… she got up… and then she'd sit in the lounge room until it was time for breakfast… but she wouldn't cook the food… and for the first few days I didn't know I had to be the one to make it. She'd just… look at the table so lost. As if she could no longer comprehend what was going on. Like… like she knew she had something to be doing, eating, but there was no food so clear that was wrong…"

Sylvie gestured at the empty plate in front of her before sucking in a breath and continuing. "I'm… I want to say I'm ashamed to admit it took me two days to work out I needed to be the one to cook… but I think based on what I know I did quite well. So… I started to cook. Well, not really I started to prepare frozen meals and chop up what fruit and vegetables I could. Grammy would eat them, but she never really talked to me after that. Eventually though… the food in the house I knew how to prepare ran out…

"So I started to use the money I knew the location of to get more food. I asked one of the neighbours to go shopping with me and I grabbed what I could. That kept us going for a bit… until the bills started to come in. I didn't know how to PAY them and Grammy hadn't spoken for weeks at that point. So I just… sort of did nothing. That was until… I think it was two months after Grampy died that Grammy woke up and asked "Who are you?" before looking away as if the answer didn't matter.

"Well… after that someone from the school came around. Grampy died during the school holidays but school had been on for a few weeks now and they'd heard nothing at all from us. So my teaching came around and saw what was going on and well… they called somebody, who called somebody else and a short doctor's checkup for Grammy and then all of a sudden I'm being told that I have to go to an orphanage because Grammy can't take care of me anymore…"

Sylvie's eyes weren't the only ones that were wet with tears. Lily had buried her head into her front legs, curling up into herself the best she could so that she didn't have to look. Callisto was pointedly looking at a nearby wall, the faintest mist to her eyes. Vivian was sniffling, tear tracks streaking down her cheeks but she didn't look away. She was the one who asked and she was willing to LOOK THE PROBLEM IN THE FACE. Just because her heart felt like it was being stabbed didn't mean she should look away. Kat kept her face frozen, but the lines of tears were clearly visible. Not needing to breath meant sniffling was less of an issue.

"And… I… I don't know what to do about that. I mean, I know what I did… but I'm not sure how ok I am with how I dealt with it. See… I… Grammy's still alive I think. I just… I haven't visited her though, or really thought about her much. I… I don't really think Grammy is alive. Or… no. Words… Um… clarify…

"Right. I think people are their minds. Their experiences. I loved Grammy and her stories. I loved how she always had time for me, even if she could have been doing so many other things. She was always there even if it was just to watch me read or do homework. Even if I know now that might have just been because it was a routine, I still loved that. Grammy doesn't talk anymore. Can't talk anymore.

"She's barely human still and I don't think her body is really a person. I've mourned Grammy and said goodbye. She's dead. As much as it hurts me. She died the day Grampy did and her body is too sad to get the message. That's what I think. That's what I know emotionally…

"But sometimes I think I'm doing the wrong thing not visiting her. Grammy took care of me for years and I could not go to the hospital to check up on her? But… but I'm not checking up on HER am I? I'm looking over her 'dead' body. I can't decide if visiting her is like digging up her casket to speak to the body or praying at her grave even if she didn't really die in that hospital bed but back at home. So that… that's that. That is…"

The damn finally broke and Sylvie started all out bawling. Kat, before she could find herself in a similar position stood up, Vivian catching the idea and following behind. Kat prodded Lily mentally to show her what she was planning and Callisto got the message some how as well. They all headed over to the couch and through some massive feat of will managed to get into a somewhat reasonable formation before they all started crying themselves.

Kat was half lying half sitting across both Callisto and Vivian as they were hugging her and Sylvie. Kat's wings were behind both but she had unwrapped her tail to include everyone in the hug. It wasn't really enough to wrap all the way around all of them but it was enough to get everyone and that made the difference. Sylvie was still on Kat's lap, now being held aloft by three sets of hands. Meanwhile Lily managed to squeeze herself into the gap between Sylvie and Vivian snuggling herself into Sylvie's side to try and calm Sylvie and herself down.

The crying continued for quite a while. Even Callisto let out a few noises through her restraint. Vivian grabbed one of the couch's pillows to cry into mostly to avoid getting snot all over everyone else. Kat was surprised at the amount of water and didn't notice that her tears had started to freeze over and her eyes were glowing. Lily, the only one who could notice wasn't looking at all. She was trying to deal with her own emotions and Kat's as best she could and failing to avoid being sucked into her own whirlpool of sadness.

Eventually, Sylvie asked, in a very soft, sniffly voice, "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"

That was enough to pull everyone most of the way out of their sadness. The need to give Sylvie an answer much stronger than their desire to keep crying. Vivian answered with, "I think she'd want you to be happy. I doubt your Gammy would want you to suffer on her behalf,"

Kat added in, "Nothing needs to happen Sylvie. Not only would it be difficult to visit whatever hospital she's in… if things really are as bad as you say I don't think she'd notice. I agree with Vivian, I doubt Grammy would want you to torture yourself over this,"

Callisto, ever the intellectual offered a very different piece of advice thought, "There is one thing to consider though. We all have confirmation that souls exist. Lily's knew state is a tribute to this as well as the information from D.E.M.O.N.S. I believe that there is quite a high chance that she did not lose her memories, but perhaps her soul. You described her as simply going through the motions…

"But perhaps you may wish to consider it as that exact thing happening. I think it is possible her soul moved on at the same time as your Grandfather's. If you further take into account the bond between Kat and Lily, I would posit a lesser form of such a bond, where your Grandfather was keeping them both in the physical world to look after you when they should have moved on some time earlier…

"With his death that link snapped and her body lost what made it truly human. I do not really think we have any way of testing my guesses but I would not be terribly surprised if that was actually what happened, or some slight variation close to it,"

Kat opened her mouth to retort… but found what Callisto said made a lot of sense. Hmm. I… hmm. While Kat was pondering it, Sylvie's expression cleared up somewhat. "Yes. That does make sense. I… I think that even sounds rather correct."

*Dammit. D.E.M.O.N.S… it's not like I can just check if she still has a soul or not is it?*

User Kat is informed that attempting to use User Kat's Dream Walk ability would fail on anything lacking a soul.

*Oh you have got to be kidding me! I can't believe you actually gave me an answer you… YOU! Dammit!*

[What?]

Kat shared the memory of the answer. [Oh. OH. What… Oh dear. Do… do we offer? Do we even want to test this? I mean… we CAN but… should we?]

*I don't know Lily. I wish I could forget the last twenty seconds or so.*