Diving into our memories was interesting. It was like watching a movie in some kind of sci-fi theatre with perfect immersion. I had all senses and was acting but it was not me doing it. At first, it was a little disturbing to feel my – our – body but I quickly managed to get used to it. With that, the ‘movie’ turned into something much more familiar. Normal memories. I could look back at the moment and the big impressions were there but the details were vague. I also clearly felt it was not my memory.
When I got back to our soulscape, I was alone. Catori’s room had the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign hanging and the TV was still dark. There was a tiny bit of noise coming through the speakers. A few soft steps and the occasional rustle of Circe’s blanket. We were still sleeping. I felt exhaustion come over me.
“Hey, Truth”, I said.
The eye shifted to look at me.
“I’m gonna go back to reality and get some sleep.”
“You do not need to rest your soul.”
I yawned. It felt a little strange covering my beak with a wing.
“I want to”, I said.
The eye… nodded. It was a slight bob of the pupil.
“Sleep well”, he said.
I stepped into my room. The sign still read ‘Please Knock’ as I closed the door behind me. I flew up to one of the trees and tucked my head under a wing. Within moments, I was gone.
----------------------------------------
When I woke up, Circe was already sitting up in her bed. She greeted me through a yawn.
“Good morning”, I returned, “Did you sleep well?”
She nodded before rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Say, Fio… Why did you get so happy when Alex called you Catori yesterday? Do you prefer that name?”
I blinked.
“Well… It’s a little complicated. Especially for this early in the morning.”
The girl grumbled.
“Long story short, Catori was there yesterday afternoon. Now I’m fronting.”
“Fronting?”
She stood up and walked over to the bowl of clear water standing ready on a table. After splashing her face and drying off with a towel, she turned back to me.
“Is that because of your Skill? Did you become two people?”
For a second I thought about clarifying but I was still just waking up.
“Close enough. We’re looking for a body for Catori.”
That woke her up. With a few quick steps, she stood right before me. Her eyes were looking for something in my face. Whatever it was, she smiled softly after a moment.
“That’s good. People should have a body!”
I scoffed.
“Bodies are overrated.”
“No, no. You see, if Catori gets a body, I can bond with her. Or… Wait, can you bond with her? Or would that… Can I bond with myself?”
Circe rubbed her temples.
“Ouch. Headache.”
I whacked her with a wing.
“Come. Let’s get breakfast.”
She grinned and was quickly out of the door. But her words had left an idea in my head. One that Catori found just as interesting.
“We’ll think about it when we got you a body”, I told her.
A sense of agreement was the answer. Then I felt Catori leave into the starling.
----------------------------------------
We returned to Jericho and Yria just before noon. There was a lot of work to be done for the feast and everyone was going to help. Jane was still busy in the Cathedral with something. Somehow, she had found the time to send us some food, primarily vegetables and some bread. It was for the feast.
Our head butler told us he was in contact with her. I had gotten curious and identified him.
[Identify]
Species: Human (adult)
Age: 40
Name: Scrooge
Gender: male
Status: healthy, vis enriched (medium)
Level: 54
Class: [Steward]
That was… decidedly average. Even the Class looked like it was not even evolved. But his race level was very high. Maybe he had swapped a few times over his lifetime.
I ignored the implications and got back to work. My darkness was extremely useful in moving around just about anything that was processed. Yria coordinated the cutting of all the meat with Alex and Cerberos helping her while Jericho, Circe and Hera worked on getting it ready. With everything we had caught, a lot of it would go bad so about half was going to be preserved or given to the neighbours. The rest was going to be barbecued over the open fire or made into a stew.
I was in between the action, transporting and putting away everything that was done. Meat to the butchers, then to the chefs. Some salt and herbs. Swapping out knives and sharpening dull blades. Bringing some water to drink, or ale for Jericho. Flexing my vis to create a small breeze.
Okay, that last one was a bit weird. I had not really used blank vis other than for crafting. Only that was wrong. The starling body, supported by our Skill, was able to use the aspects I had used to kill it. The same for the mouse. So when I had a small break from all the assisting, I tried to use the energy in my Core. And it worked. Granted, it was a bit messy when it came to flux so I quickly stopped but it was very interesting. Yria especially thanked me for it.
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We took a small lunch break with the first bits of barbecue and some raw meat for the harpy and me. Then it was back to work.
Two hours later, everything was done. The meat was drying or put away, the stew spread a warm smell all across the backyard and tables stood ready with salads, bread, and barbecued meat still sizzling softly. The Erlons had joined us as well. Wife, husband and three children, the eldest a boy in his late teens. I had already forgotten their names. They already brought their share of the hunt to get preserved. I had seen a few coins exchange hands.
Jericho stood in front of everyone, Yria and me at his sides.
“Thank you all for coming”, he said, “This feast is a little sudden but nonetheless welcome.”
A chuckle made the rounds.
“My friends, my family, and those in between. Yesterday, my wife Yria” – the harpy preened – “and Cerberos’ friend Fio spontaneously decided to have a hunting challenge. Despite the significant advantage of Yria knowing the lay of the land, Fio nearly managed to win after finding a cavern rhino of all things.
“Still, my wife prevailed and has already received her reward.”
Yria clapped her wing-hands twice while everyone else gave polite applause. Once they settled down, Jericho continued.
“Now, I don’t want to keep talking any more, lest the food cools. Have at it!”
There was a high-pitched holler from Circe and laughter all around. Everyone stormed the buffet while Hera walked out of the kitchen with two plates of nearly raw meat. I saw Yria drool and even my terrible nose made out the delicious smell. The maid set down the plates for us.
“Here you go, Lady, Missus. Lady Alexandra had told me about your endeavours in a dwarven eatery. I hope it is to your liking.”
Yria nodded rapidly before digging in. I gave a quick “Thanks” and started eating as well.
Somehow, Hera had managed to improve what the dwarves did. The meat had been sliced into strips about one centimetre across and three centimetres long. It was marinated in salt and a few finely ground herbs before being fried a short moment at high heat. That made it both easy to eat and delicious. The herbs almost tasted like green tea, to me at least. Yria corrected me. They were normal ‘cooking’ herbs. Some thyme, basil and parsley, mostly. She even showed me where they grew in the little field.
Soon, our discussion moved to the competition.
“Somehow I still find it hard to believe you simply found a cavern rhino and were able to bring it back”, Yria said.
“Are they really that hard to find?”
“Yep. They never really get close to the gaps. Unless you don’t care about getting lost in the lower levels, you have to get really lucky.”
“The gaps between the first and second layer, right?”
Yria tilted her head.
“Yes. How far down did you go?”
“The second layer. I kept somewhat close to the entrance, though.”
“I barely ever go there. It’s too easy to lose the entrance in the darkness.”
“It wasn’t that dark. Plenty of glowing moss and mushrooms.”
Yria blinked.
“Right. You’re an owl. Is that how you kept up with me?”
“You really can’t see down there?”, I asked.
“I mean, barely? My eyes are much better in daylight. Even the first layer is difficult without my Skill.”
“Hmm. I guess that’s why we were close. I just picked off as much as I could in between the cavern flora. That means you’re a really good hunter.”
“Thanks!”, Yria grinned, “I’m not too far from my double so I would hope so.”
“Oh. Wow. I just evolved my Class for the first time.”
“Want to just fly together for a bit? Not right now. But someday?”
I nodded.
“Sure. Sounds like fun.”
I worked [Telepathy] to connect to Catori.
“Hey, want to look for a good flying body so you can join me and Yria for a session sometime?”
It took a few moments for her to answer.
“Sounds fun! When?”
“Just come by when you have time. I’m home most days, especially after yesterday’s haul.”
I nodded.
“Whenever we want”, I sent.
“I’ll see when I can make it”, I said out loud.
There was laughter from the other side of the backyard. I listened in on Alex telling the story of how her caravan got attacked and Hera got attached. There had been some commotion and confusion when the Erlons saw her for the first time but she had finally found the confidence not to hide her thaumium skin. I was happy she was learning to trust.
“Hey, wanna see something cool?”, I asked Yria.
“Yes!”, Circe said from next to us.
“You already know”, I smirked.
“Well, sure”, Yria said, “Why not?”
With a simple thought, [Eldritch Shift] activated. I pulled on my old familiar aspects of ordo, metallum and vitreus. It took less than half a minute and my body was fully transformed.
The harpy blinked. The tale at the other table had finished already and everyone was staring at me.
“Cool, right?”, I said as I hooted a metallic sound.
“What in the warp…”, one of the Erlons said.
“That’s… really cool”, Yria agreed, “Can I touch?”
I nodded after a moment of reluctance.
“A little.”
Her fingers gently caressed my thaumium and crystal body. I had rarely used this form recently. Mostly because it simply was not necessary. The humans were decent enough and could keep most dangerous wildlife away from their roads and cities.
“This is beautiful!”, the harpy said, “How do you even do that?”
“It’s a Skill. Well, a Breakthrough.”
“Wow.”
She prodded a feather with one of her claw-like nails. It rang in a clear note.
“Can you still fly?”
“Yes.”
“That seems really useful.”
“It has saved my life once or twice.”
“I can imagine.”
Soon, the feast returned to its normal business, the novelty of my form wearing off. Yria and I had finished our food and continued talking about hunting and flying. Circe listened in seeming a little envious. I could understand her but I had no idea how to build a plane. If she evolved one day, I half expected her to be able to fly. It would be interesting to see if she would go all the way into an owl or become a harpy instead.