"Daddy? Where are you going?" Lily asks as she wipes the sleep out of her eyes.
"It's Saturday, so I have to go talk to Mammon again," Lucario explains before bending down to pick up the little girl.
Upon hearing Mammon's name, Lily instantly perks up. "Can I meet Mr. Mammon now?!" she excitedly begs, jumping up and down in Lucario's arms.
Hesitant, Lucario's eyes squint at the fear of what might happen to his daughter if she gets sucked into the family's curse. "Mammon is a very scary person. He isn't a nice person either. Are you sure you want to meet him?"
"Daddy will protect me, so I will be fine." Lily brightly smiles, oblivious to the dangers that she might encounter. "Daddy will tell Mr. Mammon to be nice to me."
Lucario glances over at Billy who is waiting at the end of the hallway, knowing that he heard Lily's request. With a reassuring nod, Billy understands what his boss might be thinking and lets him know that he shouldn't keep things like this hidden from Lily for too long.
"Lily," Lucario starts as he wipes Lily's hair from her face, "once you meet Mammon, you can never leave him. He is like the guardian over our family, and we have to do what he says, but only if you meet him. If you don't meet him, you don't have to do what he says. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Will Mr. Mammon get mad at me if I don't do what he says?" Lily asks, a bit more quietly this time.
"Mammon gets very mad if we don't do what he says, which is why I had to learn all of his rules when I was little."
Twiddling her fingers together, Lily rethinks about wanting to meet Mammon. She understands that if this person is like a family guardian and is allowed to get mad at Lucario, then he won't be able to protect her if she does something wrong.
"Even so… I still want to meet Mr. Mammon. I'm a part of this family, too, so I should meet him," Lily concludes, staring up at her father with shaky hands. "I might make him mad sometimes, but that's because I didn't follow the rules he made. And since Mr. Mammon is our family guardian, I have to listen to him and thank him for protecting Daddy."
With furrowed brows, Lucario realizes that he has made the mistake of calling Mammon the "family guardian" since he doesn't actually protect the family. It's more like the family's ancestors owe Mammon, and the descendants are the one's paying for it.
Knowing that he can't go back on his word, Lucario takes Lily over to the taped up house and sets her down next to the slightly melted candles. One by one, Lucario lights up each of the five candles, leaving one of the candles for Lily to light.
"Lily, in order for you to meet Mammon, you have to light a candle. Are you ready?"
Taking the lighter, Lily nods her head, clicks on the lighter, and carefully lights up the last candle which burns the brightest out of all the others.
Not liking where this is going, Lucario pulls Lily closer to him and demonstrates how she should be kneeling.
"O powerful Mammon, I offer you the wealth that the Buenavista Family has received under your guidance. Bless us so that we may continue to flourish under your prosperous reign. Please forgive my ancestors as they have sinned against you and paid the price in your fiery pit."
Accepting the prayer, the candle flames dance in the light gust of wind but do not go out.
"Lily, you have to introduce yourself to Mammon," Lucario whispers.
"Good morning, Mr. Mammon. My name is Lily Buenavista. I know that I'm a Buenavista by blood, but I am a Buenavista by name because Daddy adopted me. Daddy told me that you are the guardian of the family, so I hope that you can continue protecting us. I'll try to be a good girl and follow all of your rules."
Silence shadows over the pair as they keep their heads lowered, hoping that there might be some sort of sign of acceptance. With nerves setting in, Lucario peeks over at Lily and nearly tips over at the sight he sees.
A golden yellow glow casts over Lily as the sun's rays blanket the little girl. Her tightly curled red hair shines as if it is a fire blazing due to how the light settles beautifully in each strand.
Billy and Ethan, who came outside when he saw Lily and Lucario kneeling together, are both in awe at how stunning Lily looks. It's as if Lily is being blessed by the gods with how ethereal she looks.
Knowing that this must be a sign for something positive, Lucario almost becomes overwhelmed by the feeling that Lily might be the one who will either break the family from the curse or mend the relationship between the Buenavistas and Mammon.
"Mammon, thank you for accepting Lily into the family," Lucario finally says after recollecting himself. "I will do well to raise her and teach her your rules as she will become the next leader under your watch."
With that being said, a stronger gust of wind blows past the pair and extinguishes the flames but not before swirling around Lily and dissipating as quickly as it came.
It's another couple of seconds before Lucario sets a hand on Lily's back. "Mammon has accepted you and is very glad to meet you."
"But I didn't hear him say anything," Lily counters, wiping the stray hairs from her face due to the wind.
Lucario reaches out and picks Lily up before standing. "That's because only adults can hear him. Once you take over the family, you will be able to hear Mammon's voice. On the other hand, Mammon can hear you even though you are still little, so you should talk to him often when you are able to."
"Will talking to Mr. Mammon make him like me more?"
Tightly hugging Lily, Lucario smiles to himself. "Mammon already likes you a lot. It seems he has chosen you for something, so let's do our best not to let him down."
"Okay!" Lily shouts, hugging her father back.
—
Opening his inbox, Lucario scrolls through the endless messages when he spots the one he was looking for.
[Re: our future relationship]
Lucario clicks on the email and reads over the short message that was sent.
[We have come to the conclusion that we will agree to working with you in lieu of Lily Buenavista becoming the next head of the organization. As you know, the Meyling Food Court holds women with high respect, so we are only doing this because of Lily Buenavista. Should she not become the leader anymore, or something happens to where she is unable to become the next head, the Meyling Food Court will back out of relations with the Buenavista Family.]
Smirking, Lucario leans back in his chair and rests his hands behind his head. "Everything is coming into place. After this, only a fool will try to mess with my baby girl."