Alice sipped at her tea while Astra fussed about. She looked relatively the same sans the the eyes. But there was a slight difference that you really only noticed if you paid attention.

“Your hair is longer. Like an inch? Did mine grow after the incident?” I asked.

Astra stopped and carressed a strand of Alice’s hair. Her lips pursed and she jotted down another measurement before returning to her previous task of attempting to measure Alice’s mana.

I had seen the device before, the small metal contraption used when I first met Astra. But it was a one and done and didn’t tell her much at the time beyond my mana being different. And now it looked to be the same for Alice.

“Are we done?” Alice asked.

“Bah! Fine. But I expect another measurement at some point within the week,” Astra huffed. She paused and her shoulders dropped. “Knowing your two’s luck, that might not be an option. Oh well, at least I tried. Future historians will have to live without. Not like its the first time they’d be barred from potentially helpful knowledge.”

Alice patted the older Grimm on the shoulder and set the cup aside. As she stood I rose with her, and waited till she gathered her things. Astra walked us out the Archives, a tense look on her face even as she tried to hide it.

Thought part of it could have been the golden book she clutched.

Once alone, I finally bumped Alice’s side and waited.

“Yes?” she asked.

“You going to tell me what you chose or what? I don’t believe you when you told Astra that the status hadn’t come in yet.”

“You’re correct.”

We moved down the tunnel and turned to see a group of people exiting through one of the hidden walls. They caught us staring before turning away and marching off.

“Recognize them?”

“No.”

We pushed through the Whisper Tunnels and entered the Haven room. Still empty so we moved to the pavilion and I let Freki roam freely. He pushed against Alice’s arms till he was allowed to squirm his way underneath and settle around her like a cushion.

“Well?” I asked, plopping onto the bed.

Alice raised her hand, palm-side up. Mana gathered around her fingers and trails of cold air started to wisp off the tips. The air solidified and vibrated morphing into a recognizable force ball before the cold started to seep in.

The air cracked as thin sheets of ice materialized and were torn to shreds by the vibrations. It swirled in a chaotic tumble before Alice bit her lip. The orb stabilized and a miniature cloud of razor-sharp snow spun above her skin.

She extended her arm and shot it against the ground, the dirt exploding as the biting chill tore at my cheeks. I blinked away the flurry and watched the snowflakes melt as the explosion site was little more than churned wet mud partially frozen with chunks glued together.

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I whistled and inspected her arm. There was no tearing or signs of muscle fatigue. The incantation hadn’t gone awry and forced backlash.

“It asked me to choose. Flesh or bones,” she said.

“And which one did you go for?”

She flipped her hand over and frosty air built around her knuckles. Unlike before, the ice flashed, the glass freezing her limb and elongating into wicked claws far longer than the ones in her shifted form.

Emerald electricity bounced from the tip to her elbow before dissipating. The remnant sparks appeared here and there as the ice continued to grow, swiftly forming an armored limb that stretched past her shoulder.

“I choose neither. Something happened to the system.”

Her hand closed into a fist and the light reflected a green tint hidden within the glacial white. Golden flecks surged along, catching on the edges of her claws helping form an almost metallic edge.

I sat up and reached to touch her arm, stopping as the buzzing static called for me to conjure my flames.

“What happened?”

“I don't know. The text in the system is jumbled. Like half of it was eaten away by hungry rats. There was an error and an erosion to my Lore Matrix. I think the system stepped in but it was angry at itself,” she said. She paused long enough to cut the mana supplying the ice and it rapidly melted away that evaporated before the first drop touched the ground. “Whatever it was, it intervened and forced me to make another choice.”

“And?”

“Soul or Form.”

She stared at her hands. A few of the golden flakes remained on her skin before they too melted into her flesh. Now that the mana was cut off, her arm spasms and she rubbed life back into her muscles.

“You’ll get used to it. But don’t use too much. Apparently, its not blood we’re using, but our life force,” I said.

“You’ve gone through signs of anemia. Is it carried in the blood? It stung.”

“I think so. Still not entirely sure. Not like I have anyone to ask.”

Alice sighed and leaned into Freki’s chest. My wolf adjusted so his horns were out of the way and she could properly lay against him.

She crossed her arms. “I chose soul. It gave six to constitution, two to intelligence and wisdom but it took away a point of luck and strength.”

I winced. “I guess that’s better than two strength. What about a passive? Mine was Bones of the Keeper.”

She didn’t answer, just kept looking at the ceiling with a strange expression.

“Alice?”

“I chose soul. It changed my Lore Matrix.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “So you got something similar to one of my passives?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Then?”

Freki nudged her cheek and she stroked his fur, entangling her nails into the wisps of shadows.

“Soul of the Betrayed,” she finally admitted.

Oh. That’s not nearly as bad as I thought it’d be. So why are you acting so weird?

“Is that all?”

She sat up and pointed at my face. “I got another passive. Frozen Soul. There’s no information, just instinct.”

Well, that’s a little unfair. Two for one.

“I still don’t see the problem,” I admitted.

Her eyes closed and the ice started to build along her arms but she flexed and the thin layer cracked off. When she opened her eyes, they were crimson, shining with an intensity to power through the afternoon sunlight.

“I finally acquired the power to close the gap but… It’s wrong. I’m nothing like him. I don’t have his mana, I don’t have his passive I…” She gripped the bed and dug her nails into the wood. “It feels wrong. To share so little with him…”

Her voice was a whisper, almost too quiet to hear above the creaking wood. I didn’t know what to say or do. It was obvious who the his was.

I didn’t feel guilty for having the magic I had, but I wasn’t Elias’ sister.

Alice…

She flopped onto Freki’s paws and turned around, shoving her face into his chest. He whimpered but kept still while darting his gaze from her to me and back again.

“I’d like to rest now.”

I stood up and grabbed our packs, pulling out both our canteens. “Alright.”

As I left the pavilion she called my name and I paused.

“Tomorrow. We find Devon.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “Anything else?”

“We find him and bury my brother during the new moon.”

I waited in case there were other instructions but her breathing changed and Frekis settled in, acting more like a blanket than a pillow.

While she rested I filled the canteens and stopped once a prismatic dot appeared in the corner of my vision. I willed it open and read the notifications.