Vetiver

If there was ever a time that Zion had been rattled, it was the day they contracted Corvis. Being a princess was already burdensome, but finding a familiar was horrifying. Most mages they knew would summon and enslave a magical beast as a familiar. It was a lifelong soul bond that could never be broken. It was more serious and more binding than a marriage.

Zion, knowing what it was like to be forced to live and maintain relationships at the behest of others, really didn't like the idea of the most important relationship in their life being one rooted in slavery. So instead of summoning a familiar, they worked tirelessly on a spell that would allow a familiar to summon them and then, at that time, both could set the terms of their fraternization with familiar being an option. Sort of like a magical personal ad.

Corvis was neither the first nor the last to answer. In fact, all kinds of magical creatures from many different dimensions were interested in being Zion's familiar. Instead of being enslaved, magical creatures could set the terms of their familiarization. That was more than enough to entice, but Zion also being royalty meant their familiar would never want for anything.

Zion auditioned many hopefuls. Initially Corvis didn't even stand out, but circumstances would inevitably and inextricably bind the two together.

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Corvis flew over to Zion landing on the lich's shoulder after Zion had finished interrogating Lucky. Cerberus, still furious, quickly followed to Zion's side. Zion chastised both of them for fighting though neither felt particularly apologetic to the other, they made their apologies to one another only to appease the lich.

When the two had stopped bickering and made apologies out of lip service, Corvis began talking to Zion in a language the two had developed themselves, something only they could understand. This, in particular, enraged Cerberus. But try as he may, he could not decipher what the two were saying, and it felt as if every word was a joke on him.

Corvis had asked Zion about their shadow, and Zion gave a detailed and animated explanation which seemed almost comical to someone watching from the outside. Corvis then flew off and Zion's attention returned to Cerberus's silver eyes which were practically burning holes through them. Noticing his furious glare, Zion knelt down to his eye height and said "When did you shift?"

Cerberus explained how he shifted. He felt slightly relieved that he finally had Zion's attention and concern even though it still burned him a little bit that it came dead last.

Upon hearing Cerberus's story Zion looked at him puzzled. "So are you keeping the form for some reason or has it been so long you've forgotten how to shift back? You know I broke the curse when I resurrected Corvis, right? It was one of those situations where using the curses to weaken each other I was able to break them both, sort of like how you have to scratch a diamond with another diamond before you can cut it properly."

"No I didn't know that. Magic isn't obvious to me or really anyone else like it is to you or that bird that can't stop eating everything enchanted." Cerberus barked.

"Cerberus, are you jealous?" Zion said stifling a giggle.

"I'm not jealous, I'm just tired of being treated like a dog.." Cerberus would have continued to flesh out his complaints if he hadn't been interrupted at that very moment by Contessa, Zion and Lucky all laughing in unison.

"Did you want me to treat you more like a lone wolf?" Zion couldn't resist the metaphor.

Cerberus, in a huff, howled several times at the sky and then trotted off. Lucky, noticing his mood, decided to follow him.

Zion would have been more tender and tried to comfort and reassure Cerberus, however, this issue between Cerberus and Corvis had been going on for some time, and prior to resurrecting Corvis this last time it had actually seemed to be getting better. The two, then, might have almost been mistaken for friends. Seeing the backwards effort Cerberus was making made Zion feel a little played and unsympathetic. As many frustrations as Corvis could be, he was Zion's familiar, and that bond could never be broken. And realistically, that was where the jealousy stemmed from, because Cerberus knew that he and Zion shared no such bond. That wasn't to say that Zion didn't love and treasure him, but it irked him still that no matter how close he and Zion got he would never share the bond they do with that bird.

Zion had made extreme efforts before to demonstrate to Cerberus that just because their relationship was different didn't mean it was less important, but seeing Cerberus's recent efforts in the opposite direction, they felt like all that work was for nothing. Out of that hopelessness that was still salty in its own wound Zion stayed back hoping the wisdom of a chipmunk would finally enlighten their best friend.

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In the realm of the Fae the highest ranked mages, alchemists and nearly every expert in every magical tradition had been given samples of the vomit the Fae King had expelled. They were not told what it was nor where it was from, they were just given a sample and asked to test it. When the results came back, a secret coalition that was privy to the king's condition had been assembled to attempt to figure out what exactly was wrong with him. However, so far, the results from the testing shed no real light on anything, but just raised more questions. What they did know was that this, somehow, had to do wth Zion.