"We have to guard against unexpected trouble. Some people aren't rational enough to be easily persuaded."
Xio picked up the Triangular Spike she had accidentally dropped at her feet as she offered this explanation with a perfectly straight face.
All right, I believe you... Audrey was momentarily at a loss for words. Facing the slightly hot summer breeze, she tugged her black hood a little lower.
Over the past few weeks, Audrey had experienced a dramatic fall followed by an equally dramatic rise.
In the first week, just as Audrey was preparing for that week's Tarot Club meeting, it inexplicably failed to take place. She spent the entire week feeling uneasy, afraid that official Beyonders had found Mr. Fool and might follow the trail back to her.
Although Audrey regarded Mr. Fool as a godlike existence, the Churches had angels and gods too!
Fortunately, Audrey received news in the second week-the previous week's Tarot Club meeting had been canceled because Mr. Fool's Chosen had cooperated with a Church to resolve an incident involving an exploited Evil God's descent. Mr. Lovers had also participated.
This meant Audrey no longer needed to worry that the Church of the god she believed in might follow the trail to her doorstep.
For some reason, though, Audrey always felt that whenever the Evil God's descent was mentioned, Mr. Lovers looked rather strange, even with the gray fog concealing his face.
Surely the Evil God trying to descend wasn't the True Creator?
After that, however, Audrey found plenty of opportunities to act as a Spectator. Her pleasing progress in digesting the potion, coupled with Mr. Fool's return, dispelled her earlier worries and prompted her to begin preparing for her advancement to Sequence 8.
Thus, she approached Xio and Fors, intending to collect Beyonder materials through other