After the Meeting, a Chance Meeting

Liliana stared at Gabe, "You know, I have lived here almost my whole life, and truthfully, this is not as bad as it seems," she told him. "I doubt there will be a violent response to things. Manta Carlos is slightly different in that way," she told him.

"Different than the world beyond the veil, and I am guessing different to your world," she remarked calmly. "People here are already living differently, more openly than in other parts. This here," Liliana said gesturing to the school and the island, "Could not exist out there. There'd be too much distrust, superstition and just a general feeling towards us as if we are weird and should not be allowed to exist." she told him truthfully as memories of other psychopomps and millennia of experiences came to mind .. they were not hers, but she knew them, saw them, and could pull from them.

"Things here will not get that bad, that I'm sure of," she told him reassuringly. "But the fact people are wary or feeling fearful is not good either, and those fears need to be calmed somehow."

Liliana knew who did it, anybody in her position ended up knowing even if they didn't want to. And so she just continued to look at Gabe calmly. "The person who did this stands out no more than Dalia Tor, Jasmin, or Shale, or Alma, or me or you for that matter," she said.

"Or do you think you look normal to someone who's a lamia, a demon or a dragon?" she countered. "Here everyone does and doesn't stand out," she said. "That's the beauty of the island, we are all so different yet we are living together, being friends, going out with one another despite our differences ... Take Angelo and Alma," she said for effect, "Or Miss Forestier and Mr. Drakenhardt, or myself and KirMir," she said. "We are all different species wanting to be together and happy together. Our tolerances levels and acceptance levels here on Manta Carlos is like in few places," she explained evenly.

"And Gabe, this island IS a home of refugees. Everybody is from elsewhere, every year or two or three, we have a small influx from somewhere, from some world that is dying, or a populace that has been liberated... look at the Prax" she gently pointed out.

"it's fine to be cautious. We all are at the moment," Liliana relented somewhat, "But there's a difference between being cautious, and believing the worst of people and that something bad is going to happen. That only serves to.." here Liliana didn't quite know how to put it. She didn't want to offend him, so she looked for the nicest way to put it.

"It can't add to your sense of well-being, can it?" she asked him pointedly. "I mean, I get it, but what is the worst that can happen? Think about it in the most logical way without going down the darkest route," she suggested.

"So far, nothing has happened and the attack was over a week ago, maybe two now." she said, "Yes, there's a feeling of general unease, but has anybody said anything to you, or been mean to any of the Halcyonytes?" she asked very calmly and reasonably.

Liliana nodded and said nothing, just letting her point sink in as she looked at him very calmly. Gabe had just basically confirmed what she had been trying to point out.

"Angelo is not the one preventing you from being harassed," Liliana said kindly. "I have never been harassed, nor have other any of my friends," she explained. "That's not to say we don't have hate groups on Manta Carlos or that we are perfect," she said shaking her head.

"Cause we are far from it, but outright bullying is frowned upon and is generally not tolerated by people or authorities." she told Gabe.

"Hmm, let's see," Liliana stated thoughtfully as she thought at Gabe's question, "Well, aside from the obvious things a normal boarding type school has. Starlight has classes around the clock since there are students here who are nocturnal and cannot assist classes during the day," she said.

"I actually have divided my classes between day and night, just so I can get a feel for what's going on with the night students, and to make sure they are heard too," she explained matter-of-factly.

"Oh, and the cafeteria..." she said remembering something, "caters to most dietary needs. You can and find "human" on the menu as well as blood, raw meat and other foods that might seem somewhat odd to a person from a parallel dimension to here, or from beyond the veil."