It’s no small feat that I trust Lilliana as much as I do, that I believe her when she promises no ghosts. My life has not been kind enough to warrant the amount of love that I feel spill over me when I’m in the company of my friends. I should not trust them as wholeheartedly as I do, but here we are!

Even if we were to accidentally stumble across some ghosts, it is a small price to pay for the company of this friend - and it would be a far smaller betrayal than some of the others I have faced.

BUT wow, my thoughts aren’t really that dark right now. Especially not once we enter Taiga and the dreary fog begins to dissipate and the sun begins to shine through the branches above us. I stop when she tells me to look, craning my head back.

I’m full of every kind of smile that there is, and a soft one lights my dark eyes when I turn to see the Taiga sunlight dappling my horrid figure. I don’t like looking at myself but I can’t help but admire the way that the light adds some depth to my all-black coat. My gaze doesn’t linger, though, because I would much rather look at Lilliana and her kind blue eyes instead - and  my smile begins to grow into something brighter once I’ve turned around. “Taiga looks pretty good on me, don’t you think?” I’ve said the same about Ischia too, but that hardly makes the sentiment any less sincere.