Soul searching, and open water often went hand in hand. Ruby strolled around the lake, oblivious to all and sundry save for the dancing waves and her own inner turmoil. Wistful, which had become more and more her preferred state of mind, she reflected on the week’s events and the changes she had undergone. All of Her, every bit, had been stripped away and she no longer recognised the woman that remained. The landscape mirrored her confusion as winter turned to spring, leaving behind memories of bleak abandon in favour of a promise of green leaves and new beginnings.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said after a long silence.

The pale skinned woman at her side nodded sombrely. She had accompanied her sister for over a league, waiting patiently for the brooding to turn into reflection. Time and time again they had found themselves in this exact precedent, taking it in turns to call upon the other in times of darkness and doubt.

“About what?” Lilith raised an eyebrow, but kept her eyes locked onto the snaking peninsula that extended out towards the lake’s heart.

“Leopold.”

Decisive and to the point, the assassin couldn’t help but turn her doubt into a proud smile.

“That’s something.”

“But is it?” Ruby sighed. She stepped around fallen logs and lithely mounted lichen smothered rocks as though the wilds were a ballroom floor of polished marble.

“Certainty in times like these gives us focus. Something to work on. Someone to hate.” Though she chose her words carefully, Lilith bit her tongue when she realised her mistake.

Ruby turned sharply, eyes sparkling but with anger, not her usual inner fire. Though her hair was now grey and her feathery brow a mere mortal’s mantle, Lilith could see the flames and felt the anger and the heat all the same. She stopped and folded her arms across her bosom.

“I’m sorry.”

“I do not hate Leopold.” Ruby sounded so sincere Lilith winced. “Far from it.”

“Then, perhaps elaborate?” Lilith shrugged. “He’s obviously playing on your mind. Why?”

The spell singer relented and slouched. She turned away and continued onwards, skirting the rockpools and delicately balancing over a moss shrouded log that separated the shore from the spidery arm of land that served as their destination. At the very end of the tract a solitary tree stood defiant of winter, it’s leaves still gold and amber, life clinging on as though Autumn was still in its zenith. Time and time again the sisters had taken tea beneath its branches, reminiscing about days of yore and reconnecting over the one thing that proved unbreakable about them – family.

“He gave up so much for me. In his hour of need, I risked everything for what?”

Lilith reflected on the incident at the Ice Henge and wondered. Had Ruby any control of events? Had the Phoenix within her simply burnt too bright, and possessed her sister? She had burnt so fiercely the remnant of the old God, of a former life had snuffed itself out and left Ruby forever changed. Neither of them could remember a time throughout their many lives when Ruby’s namesake, the Crimson Matriarch preceded her in reputation.

“I want to say something trite, like love or commitment to a common cause.” Lilith set her boots down on the salty beach that edged the peninsula and waited for Ruby to catch up. When they were both on firmer ground they walked arm in arm up the shore towards the tree. “But, I think it runs deeper than that. You were never really sure about how Phoenix came to be a part of you.”

“Nobody wants to know about their husband’s ex…” Ruby frowned. It had played on her mind and turned dream into nightmare the last few nights. What promise had they made centuries ago that formed such an empowered bond? Who was she, without Phoenix, and did Leopold love her or the fact she reminded him of his first love? Her stomach churned.

“So, ask him.” Lilith wasn’t sure it was quite so simple as that, but she had failed with rhetoric and turned to blunt, obvious action.

“He’s gone off gallivanting with Duffy.” Another reason she doubted herself. In Duffy’s absence the troupe had turned to her unwavering leadership. Now he was back amongst them, she lost the purpose she had found amidst the grief of his ‘death’.

“So, we have time to plan.” Lilith pointed ahead to the tree as it turned from a skeletal silhouette into a real and tangible memory. She stopped and held Ruby back.

“What is it?” Ruby turned to her sister then to where the assassin’s eyes were locked. Every muscle in their bodies tightened as doubt turned into nerves and realisation forged it into anxiety.

“Is that a dragon?” Lilith realised it was but had to check she wasn’t hallucinating.

“Is that dragon talking?” Ruby unsheathed her sword.

Beneath the tree, a large, rocky dragon lounged in the bitter sunlight and a small, somehow familiar figure hunched over a small object. Something about the horns and the ridiculously well thought out attire made Ruby jealous, then relaxed, and then suddenly excited.

“No…it can’t be.” She hurried ahead, sheathing her blade and adjusting her halter to try and vainly match the woman’s beauty. “Philomel?” she cried. “Philomel, is that you?”

Lilith held back, confused to all hells and hands on her tanto. It took her a few awkward moments to remember why that name meant something, and felt a sudden kinship with the faun ahead. She rolled her eyes and broke into a sprint to catch up, the edges of her kimono catching the sunlight and the thought of a quiet, sombre afternoon fading into lethargy.