Alistair thought about the card they had discovered in the Underhall during his jog the following morning, a card which enhanced the bonding capabilities of a summoner. After some back and forth between Juno and Zola as to who should have the card, the pair asked Alistair to think of a number, which he did, and the one who guessed closest to it got the card.

Alistair thought of the number seven, Juno guessed eight and Zola guessed twenty-one, leaving Juno the recipient of the new Forbidden Card.

“We’re going to be tank buddies,” he told Alistair. “How cool is that?”

How cool it was remained to be seen.

They hadn’t tested the card yet, which they would do later in the Resonant Rooms. Even if it helped someone bind better, Alistair knew that this didn’t necessarily mean Juno would be able to pull off the feat. Until then, they had the Resonant Conductor fights to handle, which would take most of the day for students not planning on throwing their fights.

Ghost: Pick up your speed. You’ve been jogging at the same pace for ten minutes now.

Alistair: I thought that was the point of jogging.

Ghost: It is, but you’re trying to build your stamina even further. Keep it going. Today is chest and back day, and I think it’s time we push it.

Alistair grimaced.

He grimaced even harder when he saw Lauren and Dawn seated at a table, the two having tea over a plate of small breakfast bites that were available in an annex to the Mystic Mercantile built over the summer.

“Alistair!” Lauren shouted to him before he could duck on by. Dawn placed her pastry on her plate and covered her mouth with one hand while waving Alistair over with the other.

Ghost: Congratulate Lauren on her victory against you and let’s move on.

Alistair slowed, and eventually approached the two girls. “Hey.”

Lauren spoke. “Are you doing alright?”

“Yep. Just running and then it’s, um, legs and chest.”

Ghost: Chest and back. When we workout, we perform exercises that complement one another. Legs and chest? No. Front and back. If we want to combine something with legs, ‘back’ would be a better choice. Not chest.

Alistair shook his head.

Dawn took a sip from her tea and set it down. “Don’t be a sore loser.”

“What? No, it’s not…” Alistair sighed. “It’s not that. I lost fair and square. Or square enough,” he said, recalling the way Lauren had sunk a knee straight into his crotch. Just thinking of it made his stomach clench up.

“Sorry about that.” Lauren beamed a toothy smile at him. “I could make it up to you, if you’d like.”

“Uh, what?”

“Like, I mean we could have tea sometime or, go into town and have—”

Dawn shoved her and started laughing.

Ghost: Play along. Sure. Go on a date. Remember, Dawn’s family is connected, Lauren’s is not. But if you want to get in good with Dawn, you’ll need to be nice to Lauren. That is the game we’re playing here.

“I’ve got to keep going.” Alistair turned away and started running again.

“What the hell was that?” Ghost hissed once they were far enough away that the girls wouldn’t hear him. “You’re seriously going to leave her hanging like that?”

“I’m not going to date Lauren to get close to Dawn. What the fuck is actually wrong with you?”

“Don’t make me turn this body around.”

“Fucking try it—hey!”

Ghost turned back toward Dawn and Lauren. Alistair regained control of his body and swiveled back in the other direction. They struggled like this for a moment until Alistair threw his body to the ground, where he bounced from the pavement to the grass. “What are you doing?”

“You’re not going back there. I’m in charge!” Alistair felt Ghost leave him.

Ghost: Fine, have it your way.

“Really?” Alistair pressed himself out of the grass and looked up to find several Skywards standing near him, including Kanda, who had apparently been part of some study group.

She approached as Spectral Text appeared.

Kanda: What the hell are you doing rolling around in the grass?

Alistair: Morning exercises!

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Kanda: What kind of exercise is this?

Alistair: Just something we, um, did back at the orphanage.

She gave him a funny look but ultimately offered Alistair her hand. “Keep going,” she told her study partners. “Melissa’s brother’s roommate. He’s new around here. Ugh. Obviously.”

She helped Alistair up and he caught a glimpse of Lauren, her eyes wide before she turned to Dawn and started whispering.

“Great…” he mumbled.

Ghost: Wait. No. This is actually a good thing. They think you’re with an older girl. Congratulations, Gerald Starblack, you just became more desirable. Use this—

Alistair felt like slapping the side of his head but didn’t. Instead, he thanked Kanda, and was just turning back to his dorm when she reached out and squeezed his arm.

“There’s been a change of plans.”

“Do what, now?” he asked.

“My Uncle sent a raven. He wants to see us.”

“In Solaria?”

“No, in Ruminara.”

Ghost: That’s the opposite direction of the way we need to go if we plan to infiltrate the Dracolich Empire.

Alistair relayed this information to Kanda, but did so in a way that didn’t sound like he was repeating what Ghost said word-for-word. “What about our plans? I know a way.”

“You already mentioned that. But that will have to wait until next weekend.” Kanda looped her arm in his and joined Alistair on his walk toward the dorm, which caused even more whispers between Dawn and Lauren as they watched the pair leave. “Ha.”

“Ha?” Alistair asked Kanda.

“It looks like you have some admirers.”

“She kicked my ass yesterday because of you.”

Kanda leaned in a bit closer. “Come again?”

“I’m trying to lose my matches, as you know, but I have to make it look convincing. She beat me and just asked me out on a date before, um, we ran into each other.”

“So your response to her asking you out was to fall to the ground and fight with yourself. Because that’s not weird.”

“That’s not exactly what I was doing. But never mind that. What does Felix want?”

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “A weekend retreat for the two of us. I don’t know what that means. But I suspect there could be trouble.”

“What makes you think that?” he asked, not able to fully hold eye contact with the older girl.

“A hunch. My Uncle had no problem in accepting my reasoning for what happened at his party. He was totally fine with it. Which gives me this feeling that he knows something we don’t know.”

Ghost: Pay close attention to what she’s saying.

Alistair: I would be paying closer attention if you weren’t constantly interrupting my thought process.

Kanda motioned Alistair to a bench under a tree that had lost most of its leaves. The groundskeepers had yet to sweep up the leaves, which were thick enough that they crunched under their feet as they sat.

“I’ve never seen him do this before,” Kanda said. “Felix has invited the Unknown Souls to banquets, and he’s even met a few of them in various cities across the kingdom, to my knowledge. But he’s never held a dedicated retreat at a faraway location like Ruminara. It leads me to believe that there’s something else happening here.”

“Like what?”

“Maybe more of what we witnessed at the masquerade.”

Alistair remembered the gruesome scene. “Zombies?”

“My guess is that it could be another test to see how strong they are, and how strong the Unknown Souls are against them.”

“Something happened last night.”

Ghost: Careful.

Alistair’s eyes twitched as he continued: “Last night while walking back from Lumina, I noticed a presence. I summoned Noctarii and Lionel. Noctarii confirmed it. My, um, former master said that there was an assassin like Senka, one who had advanced knowledge of, ugh, exploiting Resonant Mana through consumed relics—

Ghost: Not a bad explanation, but sound more sure of yourself.

Alistair noted this and continued: “I believe this woman was here last night. Like I said, Noctarii confirmed it, but she was gone just as quickly as she came.”

“Her name?”

“Caidan? Something like that.”

“Caidan. Caidan, Caidan, Caidan. I haven’t heard of her before. If Daisy had been there, we would have nabbed her,” Kanda said, referring to her strange Abyssal summon. “I’m surprised Lionel couldn’t catch her.”

“Lionel’s powers are linked to my current level. They also don’t seem to have a huge area of effect. If Caidan came closer, Lionel could have done something.”

“Huh. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is what she would be doing here.”

“I don’t know either. Do you think your Uncle would have something to do with this?”

“If Caidan taught Senka, that would mean she’s a Dracolich. So in that sense, maybe. But why would Felix send her here just to check on you? I’m assuming if her mission was to attack you, things would look different now.”

“What do you mean?”

“You would be dead.”

Ghost: Not necessarily. I’ll be damned if I die a second time by the hands of Dracolich.

This statement reminded Alistair of the Card of Rebirth that he currently possessed. He hadn’t given it much thought lately, but if they died, he would be given a second chance and there was no telling what would happen to Ghost.

It certainly would be nice to be fully in control of his own body again…

Kanda flicked at something on her Skyward jacket. “But this retreat won’t be all bad. His letter also indicated that the first night is ours, that we will be able to use the grounds freely. And it is quite an estate. It’s carved out of a section meant for the protection of rare summons. About twice a year, my Uncle hires battledeck mages to clear out some of the lesser summons that use the refuge to their advantage. Meaning we can do some work there.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh. And I was thinking you could use that portal of yours to bring Juno and Zola, too.”

“You… want them to come?”

“You’re the one that has tied them to whatever happens between us, my Uncle, and the Dracolich Empire. We need them to be strong, so yeah, they’re invited. You know it’s a three-day weekend, right?”

“It is?”

“It’s the Annual Harvest Fest. Surely, you knew that. It was why we were originally hoping to get across the Dracolich border. It would have given us more time.”

Alistair swept a recently fallen leaf off his shoulder. “I didn’t know. But now that you mention it, I guess it’s about that time.”

“Exactly. So we have a few things to think about now: One—why is my Uncle doing this? Two—Why has Caidan appeared? And Three—how can we use all of this to our advantage to crush my Uncle and his endeavors in the coming weeks? Because that’s what I see happening here. It’s clear to me that we must act now or, as they say at a wedding, forever hold our peace.”