Grumbling from my gut pulled me to consciousness. I sat up in time and saw a sack thrown my way.

‘Wha?”

“Its jerky. If you want to get a real meal you can go to the mess hall,” Astra said from across the room.

She was still working on the book, cataloging the runes while activating it every minute to conjure a new batch for her to quickly sketch down.

“Any progress?”

“I’m recognizing similarities between certain runes, but still no set has been the same,” she said, stopping to stand up and stretch. “An ever annoying enchantment. But if I could peek into its shell, it’d be an amazing boon for the future.”

I untied the strings on the sack and pulled out a long strip of jerky. It was surprisingly smooth with a vague hint of sweetness underneath the savory spices.

“That’s the best jerky I’ve had.”

Astra looked up long enough to smile. “Personal blend. I cheat and use some of the ingredients in the alchemy garden.”

“We have a garden?”

“Of course we do. Its ran by ancient enchantments that I don’t understand but it's the same principles as the Haven rooms.”

“Makes sense.”

I finished off enough fo the jerky to satisfy my cravings and dusted myself free from crumbs. It really was good but knowing my stomach, I’d be hungry in another hour. The thought of food reminded me of something.

“Hey, so I know it happened a week ago, but what exactly happened that morning? We woke up and went to the mess hall to find the food burning and then found nobody inside. Next thing we know you’re all puppets in town square.”

She visibly winced and stopped scribbling. Her hand caressed the book’s surface, thumbing the corners as she closed her eyes. When she spoke, it was solemn and low.

“There’s not much to remember. I was in here doing research when a command froze in me place. It… He ordered us to move and my body reacted.”

That sounds terrible.

“Were you… aware? Did you see us when we walked in?”

“Somewhat,” she admitted. “I recognized your presence and your voice but not much else. Whatever you said or did, I have no memory strong enough to remember.”

There was a shakiness toward the end. As if it was painful to admit it.

“Are you okay?”

At this she opened her eyes and gave a polite smile. “I’m fine. I’ve fought many monstrosities as a Grimm, Cain.”

“But?”

“But. There are few instances when you lose total control of yourself. And I’ve been subjected to authorities both from Devon and others including the Prime. It wasn’t the same. To lose the total faculty of my mind and autonomy. There was no fighting it. No way to resist or pretend that we could.”

“I’m sorry.”

“The worst part is your mind.” She tapped her eyes, displaying the clearly shifted yellow before they returned to normal. “For someone with the mind stats that I have to not be able to remember details, it's disconcerting to say the least.”

Yeah good job, Cain. Bring up more trauma.

Astra busied herself and thankfully the mood was lighter than before I napped. She sporadically answered any random question I had and it seemed to help, her voice losing the tension it held. Eventually, she got excited at something so I tuned her out.

With her busy I crouched next to Alice and checked her pulse.

I wonder what you’ll choose. Probably the same thing I did to get the strength boost.

It was good that she had a chance to get more stats. I knew the disparity between us frustrated her, and now the gap would be lessened.

Not that it mattered to me. Without her, I’d be dead. She was already strong, whether she thought it was enough or not.

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As I moved to stand up, I noticed her cloak bunching around her neck on one side. I reached to tug it flat but a sharp cold shot to the ceiling.

I pulled away and examined the streak of frostbitten skin visibly restoring itself as my mana flush the cold away in a surge of heat.

“Astra?” I said.

“Yes, Cain?”

Another lance of chill pushed me back, and it crept across the ground and up the table, creating a thin sheet over Astra’s pen.

“That.”

Astra shot to her feet and rushed to Alice who just began to float inside the circle. She stopped near the edge of the outer ring and cautiously placed her palm alongside an invisible barrier. It flickered into existence long enough for it to bulge and repel her hand.

“You two need to learn to calm down,” she muttered.

“What?”

“The ritual isn’t supposed to do that.”

‘Do what? Make a barrier?”

She shook her head and started to circle Alice. “Make people float. It’s supposed to create a zone of heavy air above and cushion your limbs to hold you still. Not… this.”

The cold lances started again, flash freezing the area around it. It started with the ground, quickly forming a spiral until it started to rise and hit the table. The tea in Astra’s cup froze over before a second gust knocked it aside.

My cloak tightened and fanned out, helping to block out the chill. Mana rose exponentially, growing in power to the point that Alice’s form glowed a beacon in my sight. Her hair was golden, and the blue of her eyes burned through her eyelids, turning into lanterns.

But she stayed unconscious, her body strangely still despite gravity reversing inside the ritual.

“Is there anything we need to do?” I asked.

Astra stepped back. “We wait. Whatever is happening is up to her.”

The mana around her body turned into the living sun. The lances stopped but was replaced by a creeping cold that permeated the alcove. Spikes formed around the circle’s edge till it spread throughout the room, forcing me to conjure flames and push it back.

Astra did the same, spreading the heat to her chains that helped create a barrier against the cold.

Hey hood came loose and a sharp crack rang like an explosion. The lights dimmed and her back arched, more cracking rapidly firing.

She screamed and I moved closer, stopping as the barrier appeared.

“Cain!”

But it warbled and expanded into a large bubble that bulged out, pushing Astra into the wall. I raised my hand ready to summon the barrier but I stopped.

Alice’s eyes fluttered open and when her fingers clawed the air, they left behind snowflakes that buffeted the barrier.

“Alice. Can you hear me?”

During the change, I heard Devon’s and Alice’s voices. She had to be able to hear mine.

There wasn’t a response but I tried again, pushing into the barrier. This time, it bent, molding to my face as I pushed closer.

“Alice, rein it in. It's yours, you made this choice!”

“Cain, what are you doing?” Astra shouted.

She slipped from the barrier and slid around, having to dive between the table that was knocked into her leg.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But we have to do something right?”

As I said that, another series of pops and cracks made me turn around. Alice’s spine was like an archway and her fingers were bent at odd angles. At the tips of her fingers her pale skin had grown a layer of ice that snaked around her arms and toward her chest.

The mana around her body retreated to her center, her core. The bits of exposed collarbone bled freely as shards of ice poked through and froze the crimson droplets before they could drip upward.

I pushed closer, and the barrier thinned while a sharp static rose. The ritual circle distorted, the light bending around the runes.

A hand pulled me back and I stared into Astra’s eyes.

“What?”

“It's changing her core. Don’t disrupt the process but guide her,” she instructed.

I nodded and pushed through, the barrier parting around me before snapping back into place. I waited in case Astra had something to say but she stepped away. While she watched, I moved closer, feeling the static build into sharp tendrils against my exposed skin.

In response, a deep instinctive feeling itched at my thoughts and I called to my core before igniting my blood. The flames around me turned green and the static backed off, sparking at the tips of my mana.

Alice continued to squirm and I raised my hand but hesitated till another snap made me wince.

“Alice, focus. Pull it in, accept it,” I whispered, placing my hand on her stomach.

Immediately the ice shot into my palm and tried to force its way in but the flames roared back, burning it away in a rush of heat. I controlled it, willing it to calm, allowing enough intensity to keep me safe without harming her.

Her face contorted but her fingers stopped twitching.

“Listen, I don’t know what’s happening but you got this.”

It felt stupid to encourage an unconscious person but I gritted my teeth and allowed the flames to spread from me and gently over her body. The ice melted and the static tried to invade before my cloak flapped and conjured the shell around us.

Her foot bent at an uncomfortable angle while icy scales consumed her shoes before I guided the flames downward. The light from her chest swirled but her face relaxed so I continued.

When she became fully enveloped in the emerald fire, her spine slowly lowered till she returned to normal. The static retreated and golden flakes pushed through her skin before they melted into streaks of vapor that wafted upward.

The runes along the circle slowly dimmed, and the wind generated from the eddies of cold air faded. Her body started to fall and I wrapped my arms around her before lowering her to the ground.

Her eyes fluttered open and she gripped my bicep, sharp claws cutting into my muscles.

“Alice?” I grunted.

“C-cain,” she whispered.

I cradled her head and placed it on my lap. It was difficult with her claws trying to tear into me but I adjusted and retracted my flames.

“You alive?”

She stirred and her eyes blinked open revealing the first change to her self. Similar to how my eyes became luminescent, her eyes were shining gemstones of pale-blue; they glowed in the dim light.

“I think I am.”

I chuckled. “Nice eyes. They’re pretty.”

“How?”

“Like mine,” I said, tapping my eyes. “All nice and glowy now. Think Devon will be jealous?”

“Maybe,” she mumbled.

Astra knelt beside her other side and patted her hand. “It’d be nice if you two stopped doing unexpected things. I’d like normalcy in my life.”

Despite rolling in my lap and reaching for Astra’s face, Alice paused. Astra lowered, allowing Alice to tilt her head to meet hers.

“If that was true, you should never have become a Grimm.”