Grub and Luthiel left the park at a slow pace.
Grub's jaw throbbed with every step. His lip was still swollen and the left side of his face felt like it had been used as a punching bag, which it had. He kept pressing his fingers against his cheek to test the damage and wincing each time.
Luthiel walked beside him, her crimson eyes glancing at his face every few seconds with something that looked dangerously close to guilt.
"Look," she finally said, her voice gruff but quieter than usual. "I'm sorry, Bug. I got too caught up in the fighting. That's my bad, okay?" She crossed her arms and looked away. "If El was in control, she'd have you healed already."
Grub shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
"I'm serious. I—"
"I said don't worry about it." He rubbed his jaw one more time. "Also, what you just said is exactly what I have a question about."
Luthiel eyed him but said nothing more as they walked.
They ended up at a small diner on one of the quieter streets. The place was modest. It was filled with wooden tables and warm light. A few other patrons scattered around the room, none of whom paid them much attention aside from a brief glance at Grub's battered face.
They were seated near the back. A server brought water without being asked. Grub took a sip and set the cup down, then looked directly at Luthiel across the table.
"Okay. Can you explain this whole thing to me?"
Luthiel blinked.
"I'm going to be honest here," Grub continued. "You have been confusing me since I got here. What's up with you? Why do you change appearances like that? Why do you switch personalities? And why is the red-eyed version so much stronger than the others?"
He took another sip.
"I would've asked earlier, but I needed to be close enough to someone here so that I could actually understand what's going on. And if it turned out to be sensitive and you got mad at me for asking, that would've been a problem. I might've gotten lost without you."
Luthiel stared at him for a moment. Then she let out a short, dry laugh.
"That's a really convoluted way to say you were nervous to ask, Dumb Bug."
Grub simply said nothing.
Luthiel looked down at the table and thought for a moment. Her crimson eyes dimmed slightly as something shifted behind them. Then her expression changed entirely.
Her hair dropped forward. The red streaks faded as blue ones bled through in their place. Her bangs grew and fell across her face, covering her eyes completely. Her posture straightened while her expression flattened into nothing.
She looked at Grub. Or at least, Grub was fairly sure she was looking at him. It was hard to tell with the bangs.
Grub pointed at her face.
"See? That's exactly what I mean."
"Yes," Luthiel said in a flat, monotone voice. "That is what I was about to explain. But first."
She reached across the table and touched his cheek with her mitten-like hand. A soft glow emanated from her palm. Warmth spread through Grub's jaw and across the swollen side of his face. The throbbing dulled while sharp sting faded to a mild soreness. The swelling began to settle.
Grub blinked, startled. He touched his face. Still sore, but the worst of it was gone.
"How did you—"
"Sit down," she said calmly, pulling her hand back. "I will explain."
Grub sat back in his chair, pulled out his enchanted notebook, and opened it to a fresh page.
Luthiel sighed. "You are going to take notes on me?"
"I take notes on everything that may be valuable."
"Of course you do." She paused. "Very well."
She folded her hands on the table.
"The changes in my appearance come from the several versions of me that are me."
Grub's charcoal stopped. He looked up. "That sentence made no sense."
"Let me finish."
Waving his hand, Grub gestured for her to continue her explanation.
"Inside my mind, I hear three voices. I am three voices. But I am also just one person. Just Luthiel." She tapped the table once with her mitten-like finger. "Do you understand, Scribe?"
"Not yet. Keep going."
"These three personalities are all equally me. They are all equally distinct. We share the same body, the same memories, and the same experiences. But we think differently. We react differently. We feel differently about the same things."
Grub wrote quickly. "So you're one person with three… modes?"
"Not modes. Aspects." She considered her words. "A mode implies that one is active and the others are off. That is not how it works. All three of us are always present. Always thinking. Always aware of our surroundings. Only one controls the body at a time, but the others are still there. Watching and commenting."
"Commenting?"
"Loudly," she added without inflection.
Grub paused his writing and looked at her. "So right now, while you're talking to me, the other two are—"
"Listening. Yes. And arguing."
"About what?"
"You."
Grub stared at her. Then wrote that down too.
"Continue."
El nodded.
"Because of this, I gave each aspect a name. To keep things clear." She held up one hand. "Lu is the first. She is the one with golden eyes and neatly braided hair. She is warm, joyful, and eager to please. She also tends to smile often."
Grub nodded. "The happy one."
"Yes. Lu sees the good in things. She is the most trusting of us and the most emotionally open. She is also, in my opinion, the most fragile. But she would disagree with that assessment."
"The second," El continued, "is Thi. She has red eyes and messy hair with red streaks. She is aggressive, blunt, and prone to violence. She also likes to call you Bug."
"I noticed."
"Thi is the most impulsive of us. She acts first and thinks second. Her emotional intelligence is…" El paused for a very long time. "Limited."
Grub waited.
"She would be angry if she heard me say that. She is angry right now, in fact."
"Can she hear everything you say out loud too?"
"Yes."
"So she's listening to you call her emotionally stupid right now?"
"I said limited, not stupid. But yes."
Grub almost let out a smile.
"And the third," El said, lowering her hand, "is me. I am called El. My hair is long and covers my eyes. I have blue streaks.I say what I want to say when I want to say it and don't say anything when I don't. I am the one who usually has to keep the other two in check."
Grub studied her face—or what he could see of it behind the bangs.
"And you also call me Scribe for some reason."
"Because you are always writing."
Grub shrugged. "Fair enough."
Flipping to a new page, he drew a quick diagram. It was three circles with names. Lu, Thi, El. He drew lines between them and wrote key traits beneath each one.
"Okay," he said, looking up. "So you're three personalities in one body. You share memories. You can all hear and see everything that happens. Only one of you controls the body at a time."
"Correct."
"Can you choose who's in control?"
"No. Not usually. It happens on its own. Sometimes a situation triggers a switch. Sometimes it simply occurs without reason. We can influence it slightly, but we cannot force it."
Grub tapped his charcoal against the page. "So when Thi took over during Greedy Grabber—"
"The physicality of the fight triggered her. Combat aligns with her nature. It pulled her forward."
"And when Lu is in control, it's because things are calm?"
"Generally. Lu tends to emerge when the environment feels safe or social. She is the most comfortable with other people."
"And you?"
El was quiet for a moment.
"I emerge when observation or careful thought is needed. Or when the other two are at odds and someone must mediate."
"So you're the tiebreaker."
"In a sense. But these are just sometimes. It is mostly random."
Grub finished writing and leaned back. He studied Luthiel for a long moment, charcoal still between his fingers.
"One more thing about the switches. Earlier, you—or I suppose—Thi, said 'why is it always me in control for this bullshit'. Does that mean you all have opinions about what the others do while in control?"
"Yes. We are always aware. If Lu does something embarrassing, Thi will complain about it. If Thi does something violent, Lu will be upset. And if I make a decision that either of them disagrees with, I will hear about it for hours."
"That sounds exhausting."
"It is."
Their food arrived. Grub took a bite and chewed slowly, thinking. Luthiel—El—sat across from him without eating, her hidden eyes fixed on him.
"Thi said something earlier," Grub said between bites. "That only you could have healed me. Is it that each of you uses your 'anima' differently?
El nodded.
"Our anima comes from the same soul and the same origin. But it is interpreted in three different ways, reflecting each aspect's nature."
She held up her hand and the faint glow returned briefly before fading.
"I focus on healing and support. My anima is suited to mending, sensing, and stabilizing."
"That's how you healed my face just now."
"And your wounds when you first arrived at the village. Yes."
Grub nodded and wrote it down. "And Lu?"
"Lu's Anima focuses on high concentrations and raw output. If she were to release her Anima offensively, the volume would be considerable. She is the most powerful of us in terms of sheer quantity."
Grub raised an eyebrow. The happy, giddy, Mister-Grub calling one had the most raw power? That was unexpected.
"And Thi?"
"Thi's Anima focuses on physical enhancement and combat skill. She channels it inward, reinforcing her body, sharpening her reflexes, increasing her speed and strength. That is why she is so much stronger than Lu or me in a physical confrontation."
"So Thi is the strongest in a close fight, Lu has the most raw power, and you're the healer and strategist."
"An oversimplification, but essentially correct. The details will be easier to demonstrate after Master Morrigan's training tomorrow."
Grub finished writing the Anima breakdown and stared at the page. Three aspects, three Anima specializations, one body. It was a lot to process, but it made a strange kind of sense. Each version of Luthiel he had interacted with had always felt different—not just in mood but in capability. Now he knew why.
He looked up from his notebook.
"One more thing. What do I call you?"
El tilted her head slightly.
"When I'm talking to one of you specifically, I'll use the names you call yourselves. El. Thi. Lu." He tapped the page. "But what about when I'm just talking to… you? All of you. The whole person."
El was quiet for a moment.
"Luthiel," she said. "That is who we are. All three of us are still but one person."
"So Luthiel is the full name. Lu, Thi, and El are the parts."
"Yes."
Grub wrote it down.
"Then I'll call you Luthiel unless I'm talking to a specific one of you. Deal?"
"Of course."
Grub closed his notebook and looked at her. For a moment neither of them said anything. The diner hummed quietly around them.
Then something shifted behind El's bangs. It was small—barely there—but for just a moment, the corner of her mouth twitched upward.
"Thank you, Scribe. For wanting to understand me."
Grub shrugged. "I just wanted answers."
"Of course you did."