The Loudest Silence a Night Could Hold.

"What, you expect Tristan to be a bundle of sunshine we can talk to tonight?" Lilin asked sarcastically, "no, we don't approach him until tomorrow. Preferably, we don't approach him on castle grounds in case it turns into a bloodbath."

Annie sighed, nodding. "Well, that certainly is a relief. What should we do, then?"

"Sleep."

Annie looked up, not expecting that answer. "Sleep? I figured you'd want to do something."

"Nope. I mean, remember what I said on the ride here? I'm just exhausted. Besides, if we gotta resume our duties tomorrow, I don't wanna be this tired."

"I suppose that makes sense," Annie relented. "Well, let's head to our rooms, then?"

"Yeah. Goodnight, Annie."

"Goodnight, Lilin."

As the two parted ways for bed, both of them had countless thoughts swirling. Lilin was still unsure about all of this while Annie wrestled with the guilt of not being honest with her. Both entered their rooms, troubled and conflicted as they tried to find peace.

Lilin grabbed a Sound Stone and fell on her bed, letting it play as she got ready to bathe. The music was loud, but it couldn't drive away her thoughts. Once again, she found herself worrying about everything. She worried about Annie, whether or not she'd be able to work in her condition. She worried about the King, whether or not she'd be able to fight him when the time came. She worried about the future, how everything would be different regardless of if the plan worked or failed. She worried about herself, truly wondering if she would live through this.

Lilin brought herself back to reality and realized her favorite part of the song had passed. She quickly wound the stone back until it was at the beginning so she could listen. Then, she stepped into her room's bathing room to clean herself. She sighed as the music blared, allowing its rapid beats and constant action to soak up all of her mind's thoughts. The loud, chaotic music slowly filled all of her mind, the attention all being drawn to its crazy sounds to create a peaceful sense of control for her. She grinned as it reached her favorite part, able to finally relax as she cleaned herself.

Annie similarly prepared to bathe herself, but her thoughts weren't nearly as easy to drive out as Lilin's were. As the warm water washed the grime of the day off of her, Annie still didn't feel clean. The reason she didn't want Lilin to know about her death was because she didn't want to see her sad. At the time, it hadn't felt so selfish. How had she not felt guilty when she first said that to Euwelyn? How had she managed to keep digging herself deeper? How would she even bring it up at this point?

Annie washed her hair as she tried to reason with herself, but it wasn't going anywhere. It was just two points being thrown back and forth, a tennis match in her head where every sound was like fingernails on chalkboards. She couldn't get rid of the guilt. She had to do something, but what could she do? Maybe she should approach her tonight. No, both of them needed their rest, and Lilin made it clear that she needed to sleep for tomorrow. She should wait until tomorrow morning, when Lilin will wake her. That would be best. That way, she could discuss it in private. They'd already set the plan in motion, so coming clean wouldn't sabotage it now, surely. Yes, that's what she would do. She would tell Lilin about it first thing tomorrow. But, just in case, she should write a note to keep on herself so she had a backup if she couldn't bring herself to say it in person. Annie stood from the bath and began to dry herself. She would always hum while doing this, but tonight was different. She was in no mood to hum. She needed to write that note.

Lilin got out of her bath and dried herself off, sighing as the Sound Stone ended. She wouldn't be able to sleep with that racket, as much as she wanted to keep it going until she passed out so she wouldn't be kept up by the thoughts. As the stress came rushing back, Lilin remembered how they had handled it in the carriage. Maybe she just needed to work things out in her head one by one? She got dressed quickly and fell onto her bed again. Time to give this a try.

Firstly, Annie. What if she couldn't work with her condition? That one was pretty easy. Lilin could pick up the pace. The King was pleased with them both at the moment, and he was aware of her situation, so surely he wouldn't be wroth with her taking breaks so long as Lilin worked hard enough.

Secondly, whether or not she could fight the King. This was still not something she could properly wrestle with. She would just have to man up when the moment came. She was always better at deciding something when she needed to than planning ahead, so that was the best she could promise herself.

Thirdly, the future. What the hell was gonna happen after all of this resolved? Well, that had a few answers. One of them was that everybody was dead. Lilin chuckled at that thought, realizing the future wouldn't really be a problem anymore if everybody ended up dying anyways.  Same went for every outcome where she died. But, in the worlds where she lived... What would become of her?

Lilin could almost hear Annie's voice talking to her. "You can't predict the future," she would say, "so just worry about the present while we plant some flowers!"
Lilin quickly turned to look at the pots, realizing she hadn't been around to take care of them for the last five days. She quickly pumped some of her Mana into them, seeing that they weren't dead but were certainly wilting. She grabbed some water and made sure to give the plants a healthy shower. She hoped that she wouldn't lose these things. She still had to prove to Annie that they were completely fucking useless.

Finally, as both of them felt their anxieties receding but still not fully resolved, Annie and Lilin both settled in for the night. They pulled the blankets over themselves and fell asleep, sleeping about as soundly as their turbulent minds would let them. Tomorrow, they would have their lives changed forever.