28 Busy Morning

Mandy was woken up by the doorbell ringing.

August sluggishly got up and instantly got to the door using fae paths. Mandy headed over too, figuring it was the delivery. When she got there, August had already signed and the delivery guys were leaving. Didn't seem like anyone was in the hallway, so Mandy used telekinesis to pick the boxes up.

When she got to the kitchen, it looked like only Albus had awoken as well, Riveria and Leum were still sleeping. August was moving around using fae paths and Mandy figured he was using the chance to wash. Mandy internally sniffled-- she couldn't go and attack him with all of these people here. Biting down her internal tears, Mandy unpacked all the stuff - various groceries and camping equipment for making food.

An odd question came her way, as she set to make some coffee.

"Do we need to wash using shampoo and things to blend in?" Albus asked.

Mandy tilted her head.

"I mean, I'm more used to just," Albus drew a half triangle over her chest and after a lingering trace of white light passing over her, she looked refreshed - the clothes lost their crinkles and even her hair looked like it had been just washed and brushed.

Oh… that looked incredibly convenient. Could August do that? "I think it's best to ask August," Mandy said, since as far as she knew using those were ways to blend in too.

The doorbell rang again.

Right. Ian. Mandy started walking towards the door but hesitated in her steps. Could they let Ian in? Mandy switched her direction and peeked into the bathroom. "Can I let Ian in?"

"Get Leum to put him under oath," August said while getting dressed.

Mandy bit down another internal tear of regret as she turned to head to the door. When she peeked her head out she really did spot Ian.

"Morning," Ian said. Chilli was sitting on his head and next to him was a short girl (actually the same height as Mandy) with long slick black hair and bedhead that reminded of kitten ears.

"Morning! Wait up a bit," Mandy said.

"Sure," Ian said and Mandy returned back in. She met Leum partway. Looked like August had finished dressing and had sent Leum to the door already.

Leum yawned and drew the same half triangle over his chest as Albus had done, then opened the door once the light settled and he looked all clean and proper.

"Morning, I'm Leum, August's familiar," Ceruleum introduced himself with a soft smile.

"Ian Spenser," Ian introduced himself when he got over his surprise about a new character appearing. "That's Chilli and this is Nelly, my familiar," he said.

Oh! So that's the witten! Realization passed Mandy's eyes.

Nelly hid behind Ian with pursed lips after meeting Leum's smile, Chilli seemed positively curious, though.

"August sent me to have you form an oath with me. I ask you not to tell anyone what you see or learn inside, in exchange you three can ask… hmm, anything you want to know, I guess," Leum said.

Ian tilted his head, finding this request odd. "There are no dead bodies inside are there?"

"Is that what you want to know in exchange for silence?" Ceruleum asked with a smile.

"Uhh--" Ian looked towards Mandy.

Mandy shook her head. "Nothing of the type you'd need police for. Just something that would be bad for August personally if it gets out."

"I don't really intend to leak anything like that," Ian said with a confused frown, his shoulders raised a bit in a half-shrug.

"Then ask for something silly and make an oath," Mandy said. She believed Ian wouldn't, but she also didn't think it was smart to not use a good reassurance when it could be used.

Ian shrugged. "Okay…" It didn't look like he got it, but he looked over at Ceruleum. "What kind of creature are you?"

"I will add silence about that to your oath, is that fine?" Ceruleum asked.

Ian nodded.

Leum reached out his hand and Ian took it. The oath concluded and Leum said. "I'm a dragon."

Ian's reaction was only. "Oh, cool." While both Nelly and Chilli got startled, their eyes round like buttons.

"Why do you not feel like one?" Nelly asked, still hiding behind Ian, she looked very cautious.

Leum reached out his hand and Nelly took it still to conclude the oath.

"If a master has a legendary tier ability, they pass it on to their familiars as a passive trait. I got presence concealment from my master," Leum said.

Ian's eyes widened at the 'legendary' tier, but he merely made an acknowledging nod to himself about it.

Chilli looked conflicted. "August is indeed a beautiful one, but why?"

"Why I contracted him?" Leum asked.

Chilli nodded and they shook hands to conclude the oath.

"Love," Ceruleum said, this time easily, no hint of the embarrassment that was there yesterday in Grisham's cabinet.

Ian had an awkward expression on his face, while both Nelly and Chilli showed surprise. Nevertheless, the oaths were completed and they all went in.

"Hot damn-- he really would get in trouble," Ian said as they passed the illusion barrier. Mandy had a feeling Ian meant it along the lines of 'trouble with the landlord', though.

"A dryad" and "He's a dryad" came from Chilli and Nelly, who continued adding noisy bits like. "Then it makes sense" and other mumbles Mandy couldn't exactly catch with them doing it at the same time.

Ian looked perplexed, but he didn't ask about any of that, rather, going for a "Morning," as soon as he spotted August and the other two.

Nelly and Chilli had quieted down by now and looking around curiously. Nelly was trying to catch the shiny discharges in the mist in a cat-like manner.

"Did you have breakfast already?" Mandy asked.

"Ah, ye-- how?" Only then Ian noticed that Mandy looked like a living being. Mandy had walked behind him, so it wasn't hard to miss the detail.

"Ask that later," August said. "For now, pass on what Kenneth gave you."

Mandy went to make coffee and started preparing breakfast. She asked Albus if she was a vegan and turned out she really was, but that wasn't a problem when you were making salad anyway - replace tuna with extra avocados and chickpeas. Nelly was staring at tuna, so Mandy gave a can to her and luckily she had ordered some chili, so that part was covered too. Ian only received a coffee, since he had had breakfast already.

Meanwhile, August was reading through a small pile of documents, not stopping to do so even while eating. He was half squinting and half frowning at most of it. Leum and Riveria were reading the same pages with their heads almost leaning on August's shoulders. August didn't seem to be very happy to be squeezed between them, but the things written down appeared to be more worrisome.

Mandy and Albus took the pages right after the three had read them. "How do you know Urea's writing?" Mandy asked, though.

"Familiars inherit language comprehension from their masters," Albus said. "To me, it also feels odd that I'm able to read a strange script like this without learning it."

Right… Mandy wondered how she hadn't noticed it being odd that Albus, someone from another dimension, spoke in the same language as her like a native. Wait-- did that mean -

"Can you understand fae language too?"

Albus thought on it. "I can kind of tell the meaning of the script August writes, but it feels odd." She thought a bit. "The language I'm using when talking to you now is of the same type like mainland Aheal. It actually feels like a language you could normally learn and use, but the one he writes is something I wouldn't even call as being a language at all, it's so packed and raw that it feels more like a memory or intent transmission. I can't even imagine how it might sound if spoken," Albus said. "But I guess it's like with walking fae paths - Leum and Veri can already do that, but I'm still feeling sick and confused." Albus sighed as she said that, her shoulders drooping.

Albus didn't really get a chance to hear fae language as she, then he, was knocked out back when August and the kid spoke in it. Mandy found that the way Albus explained it made a lot of sense, especially since she had heard it multiple times - there was a lot of meaning packed in - to a level it was overwhelming.

Ian didn't really say anything, looking around in wonder as he slowly sipped his coffee, Mandy could tell he was listening to their conversation, but he didn't comment or ask anything.

On the documents Ian brought, there were about fifteen different reports of odd happenings. Most were in print, but there were handwritten notes on each all made with beautiful cursive strokes. Mandy had a feeling it was Kenneth's handwriting - it matched up well with his voice and speech pattern. Two reports were entirely handwritten - those said the most frightening details - a local deity had disappeared, but at the same time someone else had taken on its functions. Mandy recalled the silvery spider. And a chunk of lifeforce having been eaten from most students of a high school three blocks down from this spot.

The printed reports were about various odd behaviors, injuries and coma cases occurring all around the town - rosewater being the worst one, as victims actually died. Kenneth had added that those had stopped when guild caught the elf, who was a student in the same school with the eaten lifeforce incident, but others were still unresolved, yet all had traces of magic in them of all alignments at that. Even Solean and Terrean magic, and two were of a magic type Kenneth said he had never seen before - magic alignment having a bronze metallic tone to it.

Kenneth had also added a note that he didn't wish to approach the guild about it, since he has a hunch that some guild members might be involved in it (and pointed at three of the printed reports saying that those smell of necromancer faction, witchcraft faction, and exorcist faction) and that he'd rather first figure out what's up before deciding what to do. He also said that August doesn't need to resolve it or do stuff that would endanger him, just figure out a bit more on it up to a level that doesn't feel too dangerous.

August and the dragons waited for Mandy and Albus to finish reading the last page before any of them said anything.

August got out the map with the spectral reading from yesterday. "This one is from yesterday, I'll make a bigger one when we are outside," he said.

"This one is the one who consumed that god and life force," Leum pointed at the spider-shaped thing.

Albus's eyes widened, seeing the spot Leum was pointing at. "It's a... Hadean royalty," Albus mumbled with a frown on her face. "But how can that be, it's not possible for them to sustain their shape in Urea."

August rubbed his temple. "Hadeans have a metallic looking alignment?" August asked.

"Yes," Albus affirmed.

"Could this be what Hadeans looked for in Ahea?" August asked with a wry smile, a tired look settling on his face.

"... it could be," Albus said. "But the thing is - the Hadeans who were looking wanted to have that someone or something destroyed and they offered Abyss cores for any information."

"Abyss cores?" August asked.

"Power source for Hadean spaceships, more lightweight and longer lasting than-- military secret technology we have," this time Albus caught herself before revealing too much.

Ian's mouth was partly opened as he listened, his eyebrows scrunched in disbelief, and his head was tilting to the side.

Mandy too felt shaken up. How could things fall in line like this? Almost as if it was fate that had brought Albus here and now so she could meet and save the Hadean royalty.

"But why--" Albus frowned. "Could there be a usurpation happening in Hades?"

August crossed his arms. "Or a battle for succession. Why else would they try to sell state secret technology (I guess it ought to be one) just for the chance of killing a single person in secret? Hadeans don't make their statements in secret, right?"

"No. They have always been very open and direct with Ahea before," Albus affirmed.

Looked like August had looked up as much as he could about Hadeans as well in his search of 'who might use me', or so Mandy concluded. But what sort of mess was this even? Even Mandy felt like rubbing her temple.

"Do we catch this royalty and exchange them for abyss cores?" Riveria asked. Didn't look like she was particularly worried about anything.

"Hm, seems like an easy target," Ceruleum added, an amused smile appearing on his lips.

Mandy's eyes gained a dead look in them. Well, on the other hand, this said royalty was eating life force chunks of students…

"You would pass a-- prince of some world over to possible terrorists to kill?" Ian finally spoke up, squinting.

August squinted as well. "I'd rather just ignore this and pass spectral readings over to Kenneth with a note that Hadeans have metallic alignment and that-- Leum, how could you tell he was the one eating life force?"

"Around fifteen millennia ago a gate appeared connecting Hades and Urea and some of us went there to loot," Leum said with an expression of 'good old times'.

Fifteen millennia, huh? Mandy had a feeling Leum was old judging from his stories about civilizations long past, but she didn't think he was that ancient.

Even August looked surprised. Riveria and Albus were the exceptions to the rule this time. Looked like the incident wasn't a secret.

"They seemed weak at first, but then some of them ate their own allies and became strong. We retreated and they invaded Urea for a bit and ate some humans - the shape of their presence became like that then. Oh, and they also started speaking in the same language of the humans they ate - so I suppose they ate memories along with the lifeforce," Leum added.

That sounded gruesome… Mandy pursed her lips. When she looked around at others she could see that only she and Ian found it creepy, however. August seemed deep in thought, Albus was frowning with crossed arms, Riveria, Chilli, and Nelly seemed curiously surprised.

"Fair note, those of them who had not cannibalized, evaporated as soon as they stepped through the gate," Leum added, after a brief pause.

Well, in that case, the royalty might not have had much choice in the matter, Mandy nodded faintly and the report had said that only a chunk of life force had disappeared, no life had been lost. She didn't know how scary Leum and his looting buddies were, but if she imagined an alien dragon going on a rampage, then that made Hadean actions sensible. And if they evaporated without consuming others lifeforce, then perhaps this royalty was doing it to survive and she couldn't blame them then. It must be terrible to be on the run in an alien world and need to eat others lifeforce to survive - she even felt sorry for them.

Albus bit her lip, looking downwards. Her hands were clutching her own arms so strongly it looked painful.

August was still thinking, but his eyes had settled on Albus just as Mandy's eyes had. "Albus, what do you want to do?" August asked.

Albus startled hearing August's question. She opened her mouth, but couldn't form any words at first. Then she sighed and let her arms fall loose at her sides.

"If I was still Albusflores von Plaustribus," she started, looking down "Then I would want to approach the Hadean royalty as secretly as possible and figure things out and then, I'd try to get them to Ahea, secure them and try to sort things out in an open diplomatic negotiation. Ahea and Hades have a non-involvement peace pact, yet it is based on a promise made by Hadean royal family. Even with as little knowledge as I have of Hades and our history, I can tell that it's bad news for Ahea if this promise gets called off."

Albus looked up. "But as Albus, a familiar of a Ureal die--" Cough. Albus stopped herself, peeking at Ian, then continued. "I feel that it would be safest to secure this person nevertheless and pass them over to Tiamat before anyone else gets to them. If even a tenth of what I've heard of Tiamat is true, then I'm certain that she would make a decision that would fit Urea's interests the most."

Mandy peeked at Ian too, but it didn't look like Ian was shocked by the slip of tongue any more than he was about anything else that was spoken here. In fact, he looked like he was involved in something way above his pay grade and was aware of it.

August looked over to Leum with a questioning look.

"Sounds like a plan," Leum said. "Let's kidnap the royal person and dump him on my mother as quickly as possible so that, hm, preferably none of the searching parties spot us at it."

Kidnap. Mandy squinted at the wording, but it didn't look like anyone else found the wording odd other than Ian, who at this point looked like he had given up even more than before.

"Would he be able to eat my lifeforce?" August asked.

"I doubt, you outclass him," Leum said, "But, just to be safe," he mentioned and summoned the same water orb he used the day before to divine various things.

Ian's group and Albus were looking at the orb in wonder, not the case for the rest of them, even if Mandy still found it both mysterious and pretty.

"You, me, Veri and Albus are safe, not the case for others," Leum said and dispersed the orb. This time he didn't look tired at all. "Mandy and Ian would be the riskiest."

Shucks. Mandy let a breath escape her. Looked like she would be housesitting--

August nodded. "Alright. Then we are going and - can the rest of you stay here for a few hours till we return, I have a strange feeling that if any of you leave this place before we are done then some mess would happen."

"Okay," Ian said with a nod.

Mandy tilted her head. That was an odd hunch, but okay - she could spend the time learning something more about Nelly and ask Ian what he learned in those guild classes. They had snacks and might as well throw a tea party/picnic.

The three that would be going along with August started undressing, while August opened his suitcase to take out a map and more of the white powdery sand.

"Change clothes in the other room," August said in a casual tone before Mandy could, while Ian was being startled by the spectacle.

Didn't look like either of the three got what it was about, but their hands halted and they gathered up clothes they would need along with cosmetics and accessories.

"Do they normally just--?" Ian finally asked, looking at Mandy.

Mandy felt a bit guilty for not teaching this to those three, but she tried not to let the feeling show - "They aren't human, you know," she made an excuse.

Ian paused, then glanced towards Nelly. "True." He seemed to accept it with that.

August disappeared. But now Mandy didn't even bat an eyelid at that, but Ian jumped a bit. "Wha--"

"Would you like another coffee?" Mandy asked as she gathered up the now empty salad plates and mugs. She felt tempted to follow August as he makes another map - likely by the door. She had a feeling the isolation barrier messed with ability to make spectral readings, given that August had previously mentioned he would make another one when they went outside. But rather than following her temptation, Mandy chose to clean stuff up feeling down about not being able to go on this adventure.

"Uh--" Ian turned his eyes away from the spot where August had been. "Sure, I guess."

"Can I get more tuna?" Nelly asked. "And milk!"

"And chili!" Chilli added.

Mandy nodded, using telekinesis to grant each request, while her actual hands were on to making some coffee for Ian and herself.

Ian seemed to be lost in thought.

A few minutes later August's voice resounded from the room where the three went to dress. "We are out of time," he said and a minute after the outdoors shut.

Mandy walked over to lock the door and returned to her guests. She was worried about the 'out of time' line, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it, so she chose not to think about it.

"Mandy, mind if I ask why do you seem alive?" Ian asked.

Now then. Just how much was it safe to reveal? Ian was under an oath to not tell of anything he saw or learned in here, but-- if there were memory eating things out there, then… just how reassuring was it? Mandy parted her lips. Guess it was fine to tell only as much as was obvious.

"It's due to this mist or fog," Mandy said. "It adds life to those who miss it, so while I'm here I'm kind of alive." Mandy finished making the coffee and passed one of the mugs over. She had made some for herself as well.

"Magic sure is something--" Ian said, accepting the mug.

"Mhm," Mandy agreed. "It's a pity most people neither know of it nor can use it."

"Yeah," Ian agreed. "It could do a lot of good, especially the-- healing thing."

Mandy nodded. "By the way, what do they teach at the guild? You've been on two classes by now, right?"

Ian nodded, easily going along with the change of topic. "In the first lesson they gave us three rules to follow - 1)don't cross eyes with astrals, 2)don't accept favors from them and 3)don't make offerings. But, that said, it looked like most of the class had a burning hatred for them. They looked oddly at Chilli as well."

"They were the odd ones," Chilli said with a small pout. "Stinking of murder."

Mandy had guessed it might be so. "What kind of smell is that?" she asked, since 'murder' was not exactly a smell she understood.

Chilli tilted her head in thought.

Nelly tried to explain, instead. "Like being covered in the blood of your kin."

"That." Chilli agreed.

"Nelly started snarling at them when I took her along on the second lesson," Ian said. "Chilli seemed okay, though."

Nelly had put some tuna in her mouth, so she couldn't say anything, but she did start frowning.

"I don't mind," Chilli said. "Everyone eats my kin anyways, so the smell isn't unusual."

Mandy choked up. August would have been able to shrug it over like nothing, but for her it wasn't easy to respond to dark themes like those dropped casually. Ian too didn't look all that casual about it.

Nelly gulped down. "Do we really need to go there again?" She looked concerned.

Ian put his hand on Nelly's head. "It will be okay."

"Did something bad happen?" Mandy asked, recalling that August had slipped those glasses to Ian. Ian still had them on his head.

"Ah, the usual," Ian replied not seeming all that upset. "Some guys trying to show the newbie his place, although they all quit it instantly once someone mentioned that I was 'favored' by August."

Ah. Mandy's eyes formed straight lines. Well, August, looked like your name ended up being a deterrent not something causing trouble. Mandy did feel relieved that was the case.

"The witch girls suddenly got really interested in me, though" Ian added.

"So annoying," Chilli mumbled.

Looked like Chilli was still doing her guard duty. Mandy tilted her head. Didn't witches have their own community? "Are there witches in the classes?"

"Only two," Ian said. "But they said they were there to scout new talent not take the classes."

"They were ok humans," Nelly said.

"They tried to scout you?" Mandy asked. Seemed like it.

"Yeah, but I figured I'd learn more about things before making choices like that," Ian replied.

"August might be joining their community soon," Mandy said. That much was probably okay to tell.

"Oh, those two would be happy to hear," Ian said. "I had a feeling they were also trying to scout August through me," he said with a wry smile.

Mandy made the same smile. Seemed like Hal wasn't the only one with that kind of experience. Well, but fate did seem to have odd workings - in a sense the witches that asked Hal got through to August.

"Witches have a reputation of caring for their members and not betraying them even if they get in trouble with stronger forces, and they also seem to value freedom above all," Mandy said the same thing Leum had said.

"They also said the same thing," Ian said, then smiled. "Like 'even if your secret causes inconveniences, our siblings wouldn't turn their backs on you'," Ian added, mimicking a more feminine voice as he said that line.

Mandy chuckled at Ian's attempt to sound feminine.

If they phrased it like 'siblings', then Mandy had a sense for the type of group they were. A group that treated their members like family, but-- didn't those groups also have some mafia like traits and exclusivity towards non-family? It wasn't that Mandy didn't trust Leum's advice or intentions, what she didn't trust was Leum's common sense - there might be many odd bits about witch group which didn't register as inconveniences for Leum.

But that said, with those glasses and Chilli orbiting around Ian, it was clear that Ian had secrets. Wouldn't it be less conspicuous if Ian just walked around normally and looked out for those approaching him from that particular angle which revealed-- wait, couldn't Ian just wear contact lenses and blend in?

"Right, the white-haired girl, Albus, is she an alien?" Ian asked then.

"Uh-huh," Mady agreed. That had been too obvious in the context of things, trying to hide that would do no good.

"Why did she call August a diety?"

Mandy choked on her coffee. That dolt! Of course, it would be obvious if Albus phrased it like that. And it looked like Ian either had a hunch that she too was August's familiar or there was something Mandy didn't catch that easily gave it away.

"Because he is," Chilli replied. "Dryads are Urea's gods."

Ian squinted, then pursed his lips. "...And this apartment gives it away and that's why," he looked over at Mandy. "He would get in trouble if I say what I see here."

Mandy let out a long sigh. "Pretty much. But he is also a-- half-ghost, if we judge by parents," she added, not to make August seem like a liar, as he had said to Ian that he was a half-ghost.

"Is it... bad to be a god?" Ian asked.

"Well, if you look up undead dryads in the library you would learn that they are considered to be threats," Mandy replied. "And there would be people trying to use him or blackmail him into doing dangerous stuff. August is vulnerable because he has family and career and all that, the people around him would be in danger more than he would be."

"Ah," Ian nodded. "That sounds pretty bad, yeah. But I legit have no intention to tell anyone and-- chilli would be there to protect me, right?"

Chilli nodded and hit her own chest with her hand in a 'leave it to me' gesture.

"Me too," Nelly said with a pout. "Chilli might be better at sensing presences, but I'm stronger in a fight."

Ian ruffled Nelly's hair with a grin. "I'll leave it to you, then."

Nelly blushed and smiled, revealing her well pronounced, yet fine canines that made her seem even more like a cat.

"And there's also that oath thing. Not that it would happen, but - what would happen if I let anything slip?" Ian asked.

Ah, how careless. Mandy sighed. But at the same time, Ian not asking anything about it before forming an oath had only further confirmed that he had no intention to reveal anything.

"You will be knocked out moments before you are able to break it and Leum would be notified of your coordinates and then he would kill you along with anything that tried to pry it out," Mandy said, trying to keep her tone casual and light.

Welp. Ian rolled his eyes. "Good damage control, I guess."

"Well, in the worst case we are risking earth perishing and stuff," Mandy said with her eyes and mouth forming straight lines. She felt her arms curling up from the stuff she was saying. The cringe was real.

"Yeah, their convo just now also reeked of that stuff - interdimensional wars and gates and spacecrafts. I thought we lived in Lord of the Rings kind of thing, then science fiction pops in like it's normal."

"I can't keep up either," Mandy sighed.

"Must be hard on you," Ian said. "You even have a -- love rival?" He noted with a slighly awkward smile.

"I'm not worried," Mandy said.

Ian seemed somewhat relieved to hear that.

"I will be the top in this harem," Mandy said, half-joking, but half because-- her nostrils widened just a bit, the line Leum had said yesterday returning to her mind as if it was freshly said. 'For now', huh? She was looking forward to it.

Ian looked at her dumbfounded for a bit, then chuckled. "It's good to have confidence."

Nelly seemed to be more into her tuna can and the same could be said with Chilli who finished off her pepper.

"You do know that statistically speaking almost all masters end up with their familiars, right?" Mandy cast a teasing look towards Ian.

Ian squinted. "For real?" He glanced at Nelly, but it wasn't hard to tell he didn't consider her in that way one bit.

Nelly cast a confused look at Ian.

Well, it was almost all, not all. "You might be among the exceptions, who knows?"

"No, I mean," Ian said. "The black haired one, Veri, I think, is one heck of a beauty - there would be something wrong with a man not to feel attracted. Albus also has an… unattainable beauty kind of feeling to her." Ian cast a worried look towards Mandy, feeling like he had said too much.

"I completely agree," Mandy said with a nod. "I mean, August used to date Veri, so there's certainly some attraction."

Ian's worry was replaced by surprise. "...You are pretty amazing, you know."

"I must be," Mandy chuckled, not exactly sure if it was meant in a good way, though. If August considered her the most perfect, then she must be one heck of an oddball in ways she didn't even realize. On the bright side, though, there was no greater blessing to be seen like that by someone you loved, so it was fine.

"Right. You wanted to know what was in those classes," Ian recalled and started recalling events one by another.