For being only twelve years old, Circe was very accepting of our story. The fact that we were two people in one body, or rather in one soul, confused her for a bit but she quickly accepted it. We already told her about fronting a week or so ago. The leap was much less from ‘a Skill made you two people’ to ‘you always were two people’ than straight to the latter. Maybe it was easier for her because of all the experiences she had with us. Or it was because she was so young and had not settled her worldview.

No matter the reason, Catori was happy to front for a bit while I rested in our soulspace. I only paid some attention to their discussion. I was more interested in adjusting my room. The forest was still rather bland. I could not make animals appear randomly but insects seemed to work. I had a few flies and moths move through the greenery in repeating patterns. Spiders wove webs only for a breeze to take them down and the whole thing starting again. I even found the time to set up a boulder that would shelter me from the elements and then made it rain. Just sitting there and listening to the pattering drops was very relaxing.

Catori returned when she made our body sleep and we ended up cuddling in our living room. I sat at one end of the couch and she used my chest as a backrest while I went through her hair with my beak, carefully preening the strands.

The next morning was rather short. I had planned my journey to begin just after breakfast and so there was a lot of saying goodbye. Catori decided to spend some more time with Nymph while I got things settled on the human side. I had a letter for Circe’s parents in my storage, put there by my other self.

The first stop was Eterios. I pushed my speed for a bit and was surprised to reach the city in the early afternoon. I made my way to the castle, first thing. For one, I was likely to find Gregor there. I also wanted to meet Medea again. I had promised to visit the princess and with a long journey ahead of me, I wanted to see her again.

I simply flew over the city walls, high enough that I was not noticed by any guards. The palace and church in the centre were easy-to-find landmarks. When I dropped in front of the palace gates, a few people around flinched. The guards reacted the quickest, pointing their spears at me. It took a moment before I saw recognition on their faces and they returned to their positions. I entered the grounds after giving them a nod. One of them let out a sigh of relief as the barrier let me through without issue.

I did not find Gregor in the entrance hall and moved on to the courtyard. To my surprise, the [King] was taking a relaxed walk through the greenery. His wife was at his side and they were talking quietly. A servant standing ready at the door ran over and whispered to them. The [Queen] waved politely, a smile on her face. The [King] nodded as I approached.

“Greetings your majesties”, I said.

“Welcome back, Fio”, Morrigan said, “Your visit is quite sudden.”

“I was in the area and need to talk to Gregor, anyway, so I thought I’d drop by.”

“I see. Let me introduce you to my husband. This is Gerard Eterios, [King] of this country. Dear, this is Fio Catori, no last name. The friend of Lady Alexandra our Medea is talking about so very much.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Fio Catori. I would like to offer you my thanks. Our daughter has been much more motivated to keep up her studies since you visited. She has been saying things like: ‘I will surpass Fio’s wisdom’ quite regularly. It is adorable.”

I laughed.

“I can imagine. I’ll be going on a long journey but before that, we’re setting some things in motion you should probably know about. Once Gregor shows up, why don’t we find some time to discuss?”

“Ho? You would presume A [King] to suddenly change his schedule simply for your showing-up?”

I could see the mirth in the man’s grin.

“Yes. Obviously. This matter comes from the Clerics of the Cathedral, after all.”

His mirth instantly turned serious.

“I see. Who may join us?”

I glanced at Morrigan.

“Your wife can be there. I have one more person I want to introduce but… it might be a little sudden for her.”

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“Do tell.”

“She works as a spy for the Crimson Church. Once you learn about the topic and our plans for dealing with it, you will understand why I want to combine intelligence networks.”

The couple exchanged a serious look.

“We will prepare a room. If you can bring her to the palace within the hour, she can join us.”

“That sounds good. I’ll be on my way then. I’m gonna spend most of tomorrow here, as well. You can ask questions that come up, then. And Alex is going to move through in a week or two, but by then the intelligence networks will hopefully work together well enough.”

The [King] dismissed me with a nod and sent for a butler. I heard him talk about setting up a room for me and finding Gregor as I left the palace. On foot, again. That would be much less stressful for the guards.

Once outside, I took to the air and made my way to Martha’s hideout. The ‘door boy’ was in position and very confused when I knocked and he was unable to see anyone through the spyhole. A hoot made him flinch, judging from the sudden steps and cursing behind the wood. Then he opened up for me.

“It’s the owl.”

“Hello, door boy.”

“Come in”, he grunted.

“Is Martha home?”

“Ye. Just go through. You know the place.”

I nodded and opened the next door with a tendril of shadows. I could hear the man snort and sit down. He probably expected me to ask for help.

“Hello, Martha”, I called out as I stepped into her hideout, “It’s Fio.”

There was a mumbling from behind the curtains in the back.

“Who…? Oh!”

A sudden shuffle and the woman stepped out from her sleeping place. She looked like the little girl I had first met and was wearing some simple bedclothes. Her hair was a mess and she was rubbing at one of her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep.

“Hey, Fio!”, she grinned.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Nothing much”, she yawned, “Was just taking a nap. It’s been quiet the last few days.”

“Well, that will change. I just came back from the Cathedral.”

“You got orders for me, or something?”

She plummeted into a couch and picked up a bottle of wine. After a moment’s deliberation, she ignored the glass and took a big swig directly from the bottle.

“Aren’t you a little young for that?”, I asked.

She snorted.

“This Skill is really funny, you know? It’s not really camouflage. It actually shifts my body. But only how I want. My alcohol tolerance is like a dwarf’s even if I look like a child.”

“Hmm… that seems very useful. What about ageing?”

“There’s a reason I spend most of my time as a child. Private time, anyways.”

“Okay… That aside, do you know about the thing most Clerics work on?”

“They showed you the big hungry? Yep, I know. But other than me, only the Cleric knows. And you, I suppose.”

“Well, that’s gonna change. We’re planning to experiment on a hungry node that popped up on the dwarven-orkish-border. For that, we’ll need supplies. Eterios and the dwarves are gonna need to know and help out, at least the top brass.”

“Are you gonna tell the king?”

“I am. And I’m going to have the intelligence networks coordinate.”

“Oh, fuck no! There’s no way. We just don’t do that!”

“You will have to. I’m sure the Clerics are going to order you. That’s what I suggested, anyways.”

She groaned.

“Blegh… Gonna have to be old again”, she muttered, “Alright, fine! When do we start?”

“As soon as possible. If you can make it, we’re discussing things an hour from now in the palace. The [King], the [Queen], and Eterios’ [Spymaster]. As well as me, of course. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay a visit tomorrow, while I’m still here.”

She blew a raspberry. Then she took another deep swig from the bottle.

“Fine. Fucking hell. You’re a piece of work, you know that?”

She put down the bottle and rubbed her temples. I heard her take a few deep breaths before she sat up again. Suddenly, her demeanour was much brighter.

“Alright, deary, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready. Do you want to join me on the way?”

I did a double-take at the sudden change in her tone.

“… sure? I’ll… wait with the door boy.”

“Yes, do that. I’ll be right with you. Then we can see if there’s anything we need to prepare, information-wise.”

Still a little stunned, I returned to the first room. The ‘door boy’ snorted as I walked in.

“Caught her just after waking up?”

I nodded.

“Yeah. She’s all like that until she gets a few sips of wine. Think it’s a Skill…”

“Makes sense”, I said.

It took a total of two minutes before Martha joined us. She now looked like your average rich woman. Not quite a noble, maybe some successful merchant’s wife, or a [Merchant] herself. Her hair was a biting gold-blond with eyes the colour of the ocean. Her dress was well filled out and… she had a bottle of wine in her hand. The same one from before. She lifted it to her lips and emptied the last few gulps in one go.

The bottle slammed on the table as she exhaled loudly.

“That hit the spot!”, Martha grinned, “Now, my dear friend, let us not make the [King] wait, shall we?”

“A carriage is ready, boss.”

“Thank you.”

Less than a minute later, we were on our way to the palace in a somewhat comfortable carriage. When and how they had gotten it ready, I had no idea. I simply chose to ignore it and talked Martha through the outline of our plan to save the world. She was listening intently to everything I said even if some of the more detailed thaumaturgy clearly went over her head.

As we halted in front of the gates, she spoke up once again.

“I can’t wait to finally meet Gregor face-to-face.”

“Even if this isn’t your real face?”, I asked.

She only winked as she stepped onto the street.