23 Mission Complete

August made a single step and they came out right next to the kid.

Now Mandy could see that the kid had a nice symmetrical face and silky ashen hair, clothes hinted at them being a boy, but gestures were timid, soft, so Mandy couldn't tell for sure. They would be a cute child if not for their ominous-looking eyes - the retina was glowing orange and while the iris was deep black, there was a glowing orange ring surrounding its outer edge as well.

She could now also see the source of the flickering lights - small humanoids with moth-like wings and frilly, fluffy clothes. Two fuzzy antennae stuck out of their small heads and their proportions reminded her of ten-year-olds. Their lips moved and nature sounds came out, but Mandy couldn't tell at all what their words meant, no feeling got conveyed.

August replied something in the same odd way and the kid spoke something too. This time Mandy could feel that August had made a question of some sort, a lingering trace of curiosity was hidden in the sounds he made and in kid's reply, there was a small scenery of a hill seen from between trees and a two-floored house with a garden.

It was mysterious to hear a conversation happening like that. The amount of meaning hidden in a single smallest sound made Mandy feel confused and she could only catch the general vibe without being overwhelmed.

August reached out his hand towards the kid and the kid took it. They stepped into fae paths and around five of the frilly flying humanoids (songlies, if Mandy's memory wasn't off) followed into the path. Differently to Alice or the dragons, the kid didn't look dizzy at all, just curious. They asked something and August replied.

In their conversation, there was some curiosity, some caution, a glimpse of one of the songlies in their speech, glimpses of a dark shadow path, August mentioning the tentacle dog and a few other odd looking creatures, a tint of rejecting red seeping over the scene. The kid mentioning some odd looking things as well, among them, something that looked more like a stereotypical faerie. August responding. The bombardment of images and senses from their conversation made Mandy far dizzier than the path did.

They walked through the path for a while, then emerged at the same spot the kid's words had conveyed. Kid's following words were filled with gratitude and August mentioned something about a green book, then the kid nodded and left with the songlies flying after him.

August looked for a while, then stepped into a fae path again.

"What were you two talking about?" Mandy asked, knowing they had some time judging from the time it took to get here. "I mean when we stepped into the fae path?" She couldn't make much sense from all the scenes.

"He asked about fae paths," August replied.

So it was a he. Okay. One mystery solved. Since August didn't continue with an elaboration, Mandy asked. "He didn't look dizzy."

"Given what he is, it would be odd if he was," August said. "Boundary gatekeepers can move over dimensions in a similar way to this. Not that it would be safe for him to do it now, so it's better if he relies on songlies to lead him through fae paths if he must travel."

Ah, that made things make more sense. Mandy was curious about two things - "What were the creatures you mentioned?" was what she asked first.

"The main boundary dwellers he should avoid. He mentioned some he saw and I told him what those are. I can't spell their names in a human way, but if you 'saw' them when we spoke, they will appear at catalog listings for you. Travelers and Native Astrals sections in the library."

With this, Mandy could piece their conversation together, also, that August wanted her to look them all up, if she wished. There really was no time to linger on that now, they were in the middle of completing a job. "You mentioned a green book," she added.

"Ignore that detail and don't mention it to anyone," August said.

Mandy would purse her lips if she had any, but okay, then she would ask this - "Who else can walk fae paths?"

"All nature spirits can to a bigger or lesser extent, elves too," August replied.

Mandy closed her mouth not to ask about dark dryads and dark elves. Did August even know that? Well, she should have no reason to know that. But what she could ask was - "Is Ceruleum a big deal?"

A despairing smile returned to August's face. "Not as big of a deal as his mother, but… yes. My life might as well be over."

"Huh?" Mandy startled at the wording.

"Not literarily," August corrected himself, then let out a long sigh and halted his steps. "Why did I offer something so foolish?" He whispered more at himself.

"Didn't Ceruleum pick the timing to approach in a moment where you would say something like that?" Mandy asked, placing her suspicions into words.

"That's a given," August replied, not seeming surprised at it one bit.

Ah, so August had come to the same conclusion about the timing. But true, not even once he had shown any joy at his wish being fulfilled in this way, Mandy doubted that August considered any of this being luck.

"Most likely he figured out I was a dryad not due to the drink as well," August added. "Even if that might have been the first hint."

"Isolation barrier thing?" Mandy asked, recalling that to be something that would give him away to Oracles.

"Maybe," August said. "Is someone this or that wouldn't give any answers, but if you had close to limitless magic reserves and an ability to divine consistently, I can imagine many ways to narrow things down."

If it were like that, then perhaps Ceruleum had figured things out even way way back before having any of that drink. Mandy didn't know in which circles that bounty thing was relevant, but if Riveria and Violet knew, there was a small chance Ceruleum did not. But about that - Mandy didn't know if it was a good idea to tell that to August, since it might lead to some additional friction between him and Riveria, which wasn't something Mandy wanted to see.

"In what way are you dead, then?" Mandy returned to the previous line, since there had been no explanation.

"Riveria was a pain in the ass and now I have two of them," August said with dead eyes. "No, there's also that idiot," August said letting out a despairing smile. "Thanks to my dear sister I'm a week behind on my schedule as it is and now I have to deal with those three."

Oh, knowing it was that type of deal eased her worries, but, at the same time, she had a feeling that either August didn't care of the same things Violet had implied or he didn't know of those things. The suspicions having Ceruleum as a familiar would cause... Mandy didn't know what kind those were either though. That, in itself, might be more worrying, but Mandy chose to postpone thinking on that bit.

"Hmm, can't you order your familiars to do something so they leave you alone?" Mandy asked.

"Would you feel safe to send that unicorn out there to do something?" August asked.

And there Mandy had her answer. Ceruleum gave of air like he might be capable, Riveria, knowing some bits, seemed sort of hotheaded, the unicorn-- well, so far he had not made the best impression.

"Due to their presence, Riveria and Ceruleum couldn't enter human society at all," August said.

Mandybird tilted her head in a confused surprise. That was odd given that they both wore simple yet modern-ish looking clothing. Their speech patterns were also modern, not 'thy', 'thou' whatever Mandy imagined ancient beings would use.

"And the idiot comes from Ahea." August added.

Now that explained the weird clothing and told Mandy the tale of how they met. The tentacle dog was chasing him, Riveria beat the dog down and the unicorn was likely made to contract August as payment for saving his life.

"How long will it take to teach them common sense?" August let out a long despairing breath.

"Maybe Tia can help?" Mandy said, knowing she herself had some gaps in her knowledge too.

"There's no way-- no, I can try asking, maybe her schedule isn't so bad," August said. "Hal might be a better bet, though, he is the best at common sense."

The so perfect one August would marry if he wasn't a Garold or a male? Mandy was curious about that one. 'Best at common sense' was an odd sort of label, but coming from August it might as well be praise. Was August actually aware that he acted oddly? And he was still acting oddly despite knowing he was acting oddly? That was a bit of a shocker.

"Kenneth said he would be sending Ian, maybe I can dump them on him as well?" August's expression didn't look as bad as he was considering his options on where to dump his familiars.

If the topic wasn't so questionable, Mandy would feel better about seeing his mood improving a little.

"At least dragon impression of--" August started saying, then his face turned blue and he closed his mouth. There was a silent pause.

"What?" Mandy asked, worry present in her voice.

"No, I hope it's nothing," August said, his expression easing into a neutral one, and stepped ahead. A few more steps and he came out nearby the rest of them.

Mandy could see that they had all moved to the ancient looking fir forest part. The unicorn was still on the ground, even if his chest no longer glowed blue. Violet and Riveria seemed to have been in the middle of some conversation, seemingly pleasant one - judging from their expressions - but they stopped when Riveria spotted August appearing.

"You took the gatekeeper home?" Violet asked.

"Yes," August replied. "It's quite far, but there's a complete forest path leading there from here."

Violet nodded with a soft smile. "Can you give me an overall rundown of how the deal went?"

August nodded. "It was easy. He has a face songlies like, so they agreed to stay with him and only asked for him to grow out his hair and keep some potted plants in his room in exchange. He offered to do something for me without me needing to ask for it, so that part is settled as well."

Mandy could agree that the kid was pretty, if one ignored the eyes. So not only dryads, songlies too liked pretty people, was that a general nature spirit thing? Not that Mandy could ask that now.

"Do you have a means of contacting him?" Violet asked.

"Yes, we exchanged phone numbers and... I can always ask a nature spirit to pass a message, in case that doesn't work." August added the last bit a bit more quietly.

"True, since you both speak fae that might be an option," Violet nodded. "Is that something exclusive to dryads?"

August pursed his lips at the word. "No, nature spirits work under the same rules of contracting as any other astral - if you can find one and give them what they desire they will do simple things for you," he said. "Elves make use of them all the time."

"That's good to know," Violet said. "Well, then, can you take me and Alice to someplace near the black bridge?"

August exchanged looks with Ceruleum and Riveria and they nodded, then he reached out his hand towards Alice and off they went.

If Mandy had to guess, that look was about the two staying behind with the unicorn.

When they were in the fae path, Violet said. "Just so you know, Ceruleum had me and Alice make a deal with him to keep what you are a secret."

August nodded at that. But Mandy couldn't detect much change in August's level of tension at hearing it, it was almost as if he didn't even care anymore.

For a while, they walked in silence. Violet seemed to be deep into thought and Alice didn't look much better.

They stepped out by a thick shrub. Through gaps in leaves, Mandy could see that they were by the river and over it, a small distance away was a huge black bridge with a highway running over it. Where they stood, the sound of running water was more prominent than the swishing of cars up above.

Violet spoke up, when Alice let go of August's hand. "I don't know if you will, but if you have problems, or need strength, or have suspicions towards the church, or what have you - please go talk to Grisham about it first, before making strange plans," Violet said.

August was showing an awkward smile as he looked towards Violet. And no wonder, really, Violet had named the situation he was in.

Mandy felt uneasy. Most bits of it was something Violet knew from their conversation that was supposedly a secret.

"And," Violet added, looking up at August with a serious, sincere look. "When Ceruleum suggests something, evaluate HIS gains first, before you evaluate your own. Familiars do share their masters life and fate, but that does not mean their desires about it match."

The awkward smile faded and August replied in an equally serious manner. "I will take care to."

They only exchanged faint nods in place of goodbye and August stepped back into fae paths.

For a a few steps Mandy said nothing. She felt conflicted. There was something between Ceruleum and Violet, but she couldn't place a finger on it and she knew too little about any of them to make proper judgement on whose plans aligned with August's best interests the most. And the warning Violet gave bothered her due to the implication in it.

"Will you go talk to Grisham?" Mandy asked instead.

August let out a sigh. "Might as well," he said. "I do need to register my familiars with the guild, going through him might be less troublesome this time."

Mandybird made a faint nod. For some reason that felt like a good idea. Grisham knew August was a dryad already, asking him something in relation to that might be a far better idea than snooping around and worrying about it.

"Violet learned what I was from you, didn't she?" August asked then.

Mandybird tensed. She could neither confirm nor reject it, because she had made a promise.

"She probably asked you to not to tell me if it did slip out," August continued, not seeming all that upset. "But I think she was aware that I would figure this much out if she gives me a warning of that sort."

Mandy didn't know what to say, but it felt true.

August stopped. "Can you share with me what exactly Violet told you after she learned what I was?"

His eyes were serious and Mandy couldn't really feign ignorance. She did her best to recount as many details as she could from their conversation. She could tell that August too did not know that only ambrosia would count as contract item for mythical class beings, so she asked about it.

"I know nothing about contract items," August said. "I never planned on taking familiars," he added with a wry smile.

That only further confirmed that it had been a very careless remark on August's part. But - if August didn't know either, then Mandy felt a little better about not knowing.

August didn't look surprised about being confused for an artificial high dark elf, nor did he find the naming 'dark' not 'undead' odd in any way. He merely nodded when Mandy recounted the details about Garold family experiments.

What did surprise him was the detail about undead having a community.

"It was a good idea to leave you with Violet," he said. "There is nothing about that in the guild archives. I do know that there's a community for Witches, Necromancers and some Mage academies, but Gemhearts and Contras are a surprise as well."

When Mandy mentioned that Violet would be introducing her to someone from the undead community, August suggested for them to arrange a meeting in the library, if possible.

Mandy skipped the part about secret agendas, both to avoid mentioning the bounty and about Alice's possible reasons too. She did mention about heroes and typical Galord face, though.

"Undead don't really sense it, but other astrals don't like the way dad 'smells', if that's the word," August said to confirm it. "None of my siblings have that 'smell', though, so me looking like this is a fluke, not part of the curse or blessing or whatever they call it. And other than me and Sarah, no one else in our family has the typical Garold face."

It might be a little freaky if they did. Tia didn't look like August for one and now Mandy knew that it didn't apply. "If you had kids, would they have elven ears then?" Mandy asked.

August squinted. "... I have no idea," he said. "Elf ancestors are female dryads, as far as I know."

Well, if he didn't know, then… Mandy returned to telling about her conversation with Violet and what Violet said about church aligning with August.

August frowned at that part. "I know Garold family would be against it, but there have been multiple cases in the past where some things got erased even if both Garolds and Grisham were opposed to it," he said.

Mhm. Mandy felt like she might have gotten a bit too convinced by Violet's reasoning before. True. She knew far too little about it all.

"But it's valuable to know that even Ceruleum and Riveria won't be enough to fend against Church's trump cards," August added with a soft sigh. "Violet certainly knows about fighting against the church, if anything."

That sounded like Violet had a stormy past. But before Mandy could formulate a question, August asked: "Was there anything else?"

"You returned right after that," Mandy said.

August resumed walking. "What did Alice and Violet ask in exchange for silence?"

"Violet asked why either Ceruleum or Riveria talk you into contracting the do-- unicorn. Ceruleum said it's because he can heal mixed alignment beings. And Alice asked Ceruleum to divine the location of someone named Charles deStrada someday in the future," Mandy didn't remember the exact date. "Ceruleum whispered the answer to Alice, so I don't know about that."

August nodded at that. "Thank you," he said and in the next step, they were back in the Ancient fir forest part.

"Sowwy--" A snot covered unicorn in human shape flew towards August as soon as he appeared.