Pulling herself together and ignoring the atmosphere, Kannon flew into the air. “I don’t get it! I don’t understand why Maven cast a spell or where that scary mist came from. Weren’t we supposed to be making some kind of plan?”

The cute sight of Kannon throwing a fit in mid-air broke the peculiar atmosphere that had been drifting about from the moment Henna first secretly messaged Maven. As interested as everyone was in Fae’s changes, Kannon reminded them that they had a job to do.

Shayna blinked rapidly, eager to move past the events of the last few minutes. “I’m glad Fae seems to be feeling better after my Lady helped her…… But Kannon’s right, we need to prepare for the future. We have years before crisis is upon us, but we should really lay some groundwork.”

Determined to be of use to her life’s pillar, Fae nodded, “She’s right, Goddess. You’ve saved me twice. Let me help you.”

Henna tapped her finger to her lip thoughtfully, “Hmmmm, putting aside that creepy power we have no clues about, how about we try and copy the folks who sent Fae here? Why not try and make an organization of our own, to gather information and prepare for the future?”

“Ehhhh?! You want to create a set of brainwashed spies, Henna?!” Fae asked with an utterly dumbfounded look on her face.

“Of course not! I was thinking we could just recruit a little group of our own, who put little Maven here above all others. Not to an insane like your old one, but it’d be great to have some people who’d listen to Maven.... Help us figure out what's going on out there. The Pope, the King, the Duke, other nobles, grand merchants, guild leaders - we need people in those groups on our side. People who can help us root out corruption and turn the tide of hatred against the demons.” Henna said with a smug expression.

Maven nodded her head in agreement. “That sounds like a great idea. Look at you, Henna - you can be helpful if you try! But…… who should we aim to recruit?”

Fae, blushing in shame at the thought of her previous, overzealous self, shyly recommended, “Why not try to pull in some of the lower members of the Church? The way the Church works now, anyone who can’t cast healing magic or manipulate life attribute tends to have a hard time. Why not take in the outcasts? Anyone not mired in the corruption of the Pope is a potential ally.”

Not wanting to be left out, Shayna also chipped in, “Why not also bring in some people like you did with Fae? My lady, you could heal the citizenry with your power, give 'em a little pop of magic, and bring them into the fold. Help those in need, then they’ll want to help you in turn.”

“Hmmmm......Those are some good ideas. Big sis, Fae, you both really helped.... but, I can’t let you two do all the thinking here.” Maven said, putting on the most determined look she could. “I also want to help people, to heal those who need it - regardless of who they are. So, Fae, could you help get my father and the Pope to agree to it? Could you bring in people for me? I don’t care if they won’t join us, I still want to help them. It would be nice if they would, though.”

Fae and Shayna both looked at Maven with respect their eyes.

“As expected of my Goddess! I knew you’d help the people!”

Sighing at Fae, Maven retorted, “Are you still going to call me that?? I thought I was supposed to have fixed that weird mind of yours!”

Looking bashful, Fae shamefully turned her head the side. “I-I didn’t mean to…… I promise, I don’t want to call you something so embarrassing either! B-But it just slipped out… Like a habit.”

Seeing that she looked genuinely contrite, Maven didn’t have the heart to press Fae any further. It was refreshing to see shame on the face of the normally unfiltered priestess.

*Pop*

Henna clapped her two ghostly hands together to catch the group’s attention. “Okay, okay! That’s enough, you two. So, it sounds like we have a rough plan in place for Maven and Fae, is there anything that Shayna, Kannon, or I need to do?”

Looking excited at the prospect of helping, Kannon zipped around while raising her hands. “What about me? What should I do?”

Maven’s face turned a bit awkward as she said, “Why don’t you just stay near me, Kannon? You’re very helpful just by sticking around! No need waste the energy of the great and mighty Kannon with menial tasks.”

Sensing that Maven was just trying to pacify Kannon, Henna said, “So what about me? I’m guessing you want me to continue sneaking about?”

“Hehe, you guessed it!” Maven said, turning the purest smile she could muster to everyone in the room. “I’ll be counting on you all!”