"Jian Jian! Where are we going?" Lily frantically asks as she watches the training hall get smaller and smaller in the distance.
"Safe place… sacred house… boss order," Jianqiao explains, running towards the caution taped building.
When Lily turns around to see where Jianqiao is heading, she notices the building where she and Lucario greeted Mammon. Confused, she stops resisting and simply lets her be taken to the house that no one is allowed to enter. Once they are at the steps, Jianqiao sets Lily down on the steps.
"Only you… allow inside… I wait… outside."
Led more with curiosity than the small push by Jianqiao, Lily is rushed inside the building, breaking off one of the strips of caution tape. With small steps, Lily slowly enters the foyer of the spacious building. Couches covered in dusty blankets. Tables riddled with cobwebs. Footsteps echoing loudly across the vaulted ceilings. However, amongst the dust and stale air, there sits a golden totem of a wolf untouched by the years of dirt that surrounds it.
Lily reaches out to it when her legs suddenly give out from under her, dropping her onto the ground.
Child, bellows a voice from nowhere. You dare try to touch me? After years of this family neglecting my very presence?
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Lily demands as she scrambles off of the ground. Frantically, she looks every which way to find the source of the voice yet could not. That's when she finally turns to the golden wolf totem. "Are you… talking… to me?"
Who else would I be talking to in this desolate place?
"Why are you here all by yourself?" Lily asks as she approaches the golden totem.
I was placed here many many years ago only to be forgotten after a dispute between two potential leaders led to one of their deaths. The people of this land sealed off this building thinking that it was a bad omen, thinking that simply praying to me from outside will do.
Coughing from the dust getting picked up from placing her hands on the podium, Lily grabs a small towel that she finds on the table behind the podium and whips the dust off of it before bringing it to the kitchen where the sink surprisingly still works. After wetting the small towel, she begins to wipe off the podium.
"Praying to you? Does that mean that you are Mr. Mammon?"
Who else would I be then? I bring enormous wealth into this family when they deserve it. I punish them when they don't.
Not fully understanding the gravity of those words, Lily's eyes widen as she thinks she's finally meeting the family guardian. "Hi there Mr. Mammon! I know I introduced myself already, but I'm Lily Buenavista, the next leader of this family. My daddy says that only adults could hear your voice, so I'm really happy that, despite still being a kid, I can hear your voice."
The voice doesn't respond at first as if it was observing her as she finishes wiping down its podium. You are not of Buenavista blood since I don't feel a connection with you.
Lily pauses for a moment and awkwardly smiles at the golden totem while scratching the back of her head. "I was adopted into this family because my daddy saved me from my bad grandpa, so I'm a Buenavista in name and status. Even so, I hope that we can have a connection."
A young woman not of Buenavista blood becoming the leader of this wild pack of animals? The voice scoffs in disbelief. I was wondering who you were when I heard your voice calling out to me. So that beastly leader managed to grow an actual heart in place of ice and blood?
Proud of her work, Lily steps back from the podium and wipes the sweat from her face. "Do you like it Mr. Mammon? I cleaned up your… room?" Lily giggles in confusion. "If I had the right spray, it could have been cleaner, but you'll have to make do with just a wipe down with water for now."
Why do you clean my podium, Child?
"I don't like it when my room gets dirty, so Ryan and I always clean up my room every day," Lily begins to explain as she heads back over to the sink to rinse off the dust from the small towel. "Since Mr. Mammon is this family's guardian, your room should always be spotless because it shows how much we appreciate you. That's why I cleaned your podium."
Surely, you only cleaned it in order to get something in return.
Confused, Lily drags over one of the dining table chairs to the podium then begins to clean it off. "Why would I do that? You are already protecting my family as our guardian. Why should I ask more from you?"
I see… So you truly do not wish anything from me?
"Mmmm… you can keep me company while I clean up this house," Lily responds jokingly as she comes back from the sink after rinsing off the small towel again.
You merely want my company?
Lily nods her head with a proud smile as she is slowly being covered in the dust that she cleans off from the chair. "It looks like I might be here for a while because my daddy is going to be doing something big, and he doesn't want me to get hurt in case there might be bad people involved."
I see why the gods who have been watching this family have chosen you, Child.
"I don't really understand what that means, but my daddy has always been telling me that I'm special." After cleaning off the chair, Lily takes a seat. "He also told me to talk to you whenever I get the chance because you'll always be listening, so since we are together now, I would like to talk to you as much as I can before I leave."
Will you not come to this building again after you leave?
Lily brings her knees up to her chest as she tries to get comfortable on the wooden dining chair. "My daddy says that this place is closed off to everyone. I'm only here because no one would suspect that I'm in this building, but I don't know if he will let me back inside after this problem is over."
Would you enter here again if you were given permission to?
"I would like to come here again because you're here, Mr. Mammon," Lily innocently chuckles. "You are probably really lonely in this building, so I can come here and keep you company when I'm not busy if my daddy will let me."
I can make it so that you are able to enter this building whenever you want; however, you must do a few things for me.
Excited, Lily jumps up from the chair and goes over to the podium. "What is it?!"
First, you must not tell your father that you are able to speak to me. This must stay a secret between me and you. Do you understand?
Lily gasps in pure joy as she realizes that she will have a secret with her family's guardian. "I can do that!"
Secondly, you must be loyal to me. If I tell you to do something a certain way, you must do it without any questions. Do you understand?
"Yes, I understand~"
Lastly, once you become the leader of this family on your eighteenth birthday, you must let me go. By then, you will have learned and understood the way that things should be done, so you will no longer need me as your family guardian. Do you understand?
Lily hesitates as she hears the last order. She doesn't understand why a family guardian wouldn't want to be a guardian anymore. She wants Mammon to be with her after she becomes the leader since her father got to grow up with him by his side.
Child, you must understand and agree to my last order; otherwise, you will not be able to talk to me anymore.
"I… I understand," Lily mumbles as she drags her feet back over to the chair in order to grab the small towel. "I have to continue cleaning. Since I agreed, will you keep me company?" she asks with an upset smile.