The sudden sound of a voice startled Eidola from her thoughts her ears pinning back as she turned to find a young girl standing nearby. For a moment she simply stared, purple eyes drifting from the child's unfamiliar face to the pale lights hovering between the trees. It took another moment for the meaning of her question to settle and when it did, something uneasy stirred in her chest.

Her maw parted in preparation to answer, only for another small voice to interrupt. Eidola flinched as she turned toward the boy with a bewildered expression. Where had these children come from? And what were they doing wandering the forest at such an hour? How did you two...? she began, her concern outweighing her confusion.

But then the boy spoke of the lights, too.

Eidola fell silent, her gaze returning to the delicate shapes drifting through the mist. A particularly bright butterfly fluttered between the trees, its pale glow illuminating the damp leaves beneath it. She watched it for a moment before looking back toward the children, searching their expressions for some indication that they were truly seeing the same thing.

You... you can see them? she asked at last her voice scarcely above a whisper. There was something hopeful that lingered in the question, though she hardly dared entertain the possibility.