The bakery turned out to be very nice, with walls painted a pale shade of lilac, three small tables scattered around the room and a counter that had a door behind it (presumably to the kitchen).

Lizzie gestured to one of the tables by the door. "You wait here, I'll go make us some hot chocolate or something, okay?" She smiled as he sat down. "Be right back."

Grian watched quietly as she went through the door behind the counter before letting his gaze drift outside- the street was basically deserted, as far as he could see. There was nothing to focus on, leaving him by himself with his thoughts. Were they lying? I really hope they were. I mean, why would Ren do anything like that?

Ren isn't like that.

He's kind. He's friendly. In the nicest way possible, he's definitely not cut out to be the murderous leader of the villains.

But I don't think Scar and Jimmy would lie to me about something like that, and it would explain times when he's randomly disappeared and then moments later there's news about the Red King or a robbery or something...

I hate this so much.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by Lizzie announcing, "I'm back!", and sitting down at the seat across from him, carefully putting two mugs of hot chocolate on the table. She frowned slightly. "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, I'm, uh- not really." He said with a slightly sad laugh.

"Do you want to talk about what happened? Or not?" She asked gently. "If you don't want to, that's fine- I am just a random stranger, so I wouldn't expect you to." Lizzie added with a smile.

"I mean... I guess. So basically, my friends just told me that actually my brother is one of the villains-" Grian was very careful not to mention which one. "-and I'm not sure whether they're lying or not, because if they're lying then... why would they lie? But then also if my brother is a villain that really sucks." Grian finished quietly.

"Oh. I understand." She smiled sadly. "One of my friends turned out to be a villain. But, uh... then he died. So..." The pink haired woman closed her eyes briefly before looking back at Grian. "Do you think your friends would lie to you about something so serious, though? Like- do they seem like the sort of people to do that?" Lizzie asked.

Grian was about to respond when a ring tone filled the air, loud and obnoxious. Lizzie smiled sheepishly, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"One moment." She said with a laugh, answering the call. "Hello?" The pink haired woman paused as the other person spoke- Grian couldn't quite make out what they were saying (the call wasn't on speaker) but he only really heard a high-pitched, slightly panicked yelp. "Why do you need my help with that? Listen, is it just him or are there any others with him?" She paused again. "Is anybody else with you- Tango's with you? Oh, you'll be fine then! You don't need me to come help you." Lizzie shot an apologetic glance at Grian. "Aw, well it's sweet that you feel better with me there, but I'm with a friend right now, so I'll talk to you later, okay? Good luck. I love you." There was was a small click as the call ended and she put her phone away. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." Grian reassured her with a laugh. "Who was it?"

"My husband. He wanted help with something, but he'll be fine, he has a friend with him." Lizzie explained with a fond smile.

"Husband? How long have you been married for?" Grian asked curiously.

"Three years. Four years in a month, actually, although we've known each other since we were little kids and we were dating for a while before we got married." She added happily.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Grian said with a grin.

Lizzie nodded, before raising one eyebrow. "So, back to what we were talking about before- if that's okay with you- do you think your friends would lie to you? What are they like?" She added, her gaze glowing with curiosity.

"Well, Jimmy might say it for a joke, but he'd feel really bad and apologise immediately after... and I don't think Scar would lie about something like that." Lizzie's eyes widened.

"Wait, Scar? As in, Scar GT?" Grian nodded slowly. How does she- "Wait a second... are you Grian Gotts?" She yelped, staring at him.

"Yep. Wait, how do you know my last name?" Grian asked with a frown.

"I'm friends with Mumbo and Scar." Lizzie said nonchalantly. "Better question- how are you alive? You definitely died- I've had to comfort Scar and Mumbo about it on several occasions- and there's just- how are you alive?" The pink haired woman repeated.

"This god guy who called himself a Watcher reincarnated me or something." Grian explained with an awkward shrug.

"Ah, I see." Lizzie paused, taking a small sip from her drink before frowning. "Wait. Did you say 'Jimmy'? As in, Jimmy Solidarity?"

"Yeah...?" Grian shot her a confused look. "Did you know him?" Thinking about it now, Jimmy had mentioned his friend Lizzie a few times. They were so close they were brother and sister by everything but blood as far as they were concerned. That's what I got from what Jimmy said, anyway.

"You... could say that, yes. So... did he get reincarnated as well?" Lizzie asked hopefully.

"Yep. He can blow stuff up now! I can just do this-" Grian unfurled his wings and summoned a small sphere of purple flames before making an odd hand gesture as the flames vanished. "-and then Scott can control plants and stuff now-"

"Scott Major?!"

"Yep." Grian glanced at Lizzie, who looked a mix of relieved and confused.

"So they're- oh, thank god." Lizzie muttered under breath before smiling slightly. "Take it from me- I don't think Jimmy would lie about something like that." Her smile faded. "Which means that your brother is almost certainly a villain."

Wooo double update :D I'm feeling really motivated for this story sooo-

Also Lizzie is literally just the therapist for all the characters at this point lmao-

We love her though <3