Juno’s Spectral Text took Alistair by surprise that following morning.

Juno: Yo! How are things? You wouldn’t believe it, or maybe you would, but I’m back in the friggin’ scorchy-ass Firelands with Zola and Finnian to do some grinding and take on Bolrag.

Alistair: Grinding?

Juno: Yeah grinding, you know, trying to get some level ups. What else is there to do? My favorite roommate is gone for the weekend, and I’m definitely not volunteering in the fucking Wraithen Archives, like Zola suggested. I swear she’s delusional. Why would we do that, right? We could grind in the Resonant Rooms, but why not in the field, where there’s more danger and fun?

Alistair: More chance for cards in the field. Make sure to get a hit in on Bolrag for me.

Juno: Hell yeah, I will. Did you hear about Lysander?

Alistair stopped.

“What?” Ghost asked him. “I let you take over, and you’re randomly stopping in the middle of the road? We’re close to Marrowstone.”

“It’s Juno. he’s telling me something about Lysander.”

A man riding a black and white horse trotted up next to Alistair. “Hey, out of the road ya runt!” he barked.

Alistair moved to the side. He estimated that he was about a mile or two away from Marrowstone, which he could see in the distance due to the flatness of the terrain. There were trees blocking some of the view, but the buildings were high enough that their yellow rooftops were visible, the town seemingly quaint.

“I’m going to finish talking to him,” Alistair told Ghost. “Try not to interrupt me.”

Alistair: What happened to Lysander?

Juno: That fucker has been replaced, bro. They have a new professor that will teach his combat class going forward, a man named Idris Yuber. Zola and I ran into Humbutt wandering around in his sleeping bag like some sort of caterpillar. I think that makes sense. Anyway, he’s the one that told us. I guess we’ll know more about Yuber soon.

Alistair: Do you know where he’s from?

Juno: You mean like where Yuber was born? No idea. Hold on. Let me ask Zola. I sort of zoned out during the conversation because Humbutt can be boring as shit. Heh. Always yawning, hard to follow, and just, bor-ing. Hold on, Zola is killing a fire imp.

Alistair: Shouldn’t you be fighting too?

Juno: I’ve been fighting all sorts of low level yokai and sweating my ass off. I deserve a break. I got Piglet over here ramming the shit out of one now. Not like that. What I’m saying is he’s not fucking a fire imp. That would be wild, right? I’ll try to forget that mental image. Or that fact that he has come close two times now to having more in common with bacon than a living summon.

Alistair smirked.

Juno: Desolara has already chopped a couple in half, too. You should hear the imp screams. It sounds like a crying baby, yet demonic. Very demonic. Wah, wah, wah!

Alistair: And your basilisk?

Juno: Not going to lie, I’m thinking of trading that one in and getting something extra badass. You don’t have to keep your first summon, you know. Not that I would get rid of Ziggy. We wouldn’t be the Slimeclad Sovereigns without our mascot. What do you think? Wah, wah, wah! Sorry, had to do that one again.

Alistair: What I think about what?

Juno: About me getting rid of my snake. Good idea? Bad idea? Okay idea? Semi-okay idea?

Alistair: I think that’s a good idea in the long run. You have a tank through Piglet, and Desolara is a great fighter. Evolving her would give you a summon that is not only intimidating to others, but one that can also can pack a pinch.

Juno: Or sting. I probably need something on the Elemental side, just to round things out. A Biomorph would be fun, but those are hard to come by. We’ll see. Can you imagine if we were slime brothers? That would be so tight. Shit, I forgot to tell you we ran into those fire fae and they were going on and on about Smol. Ziggy is a straight up legend around here. Ah, Zola is finally paying attention to me. She says that she doesn’t know where Idris is from originally, but she says he was a professor at the Vesperspire Academy, and that she’s heard of him before.

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Alistair: But you haven’t?

Juno: I should ask my sister, but I usually don’t fanboy over battledeck mages. Their summons? Yes. But not the mages themselves.

Alistair remembered that there were five different branches, but he didn’t remember their names are what they specialized in. He was glad Ghost wasn’t privy to his thoughts. The assassin would probably scold him for not knowing.

Alistair: Vesperspire Academy. What is that one known for again?

Juno: Vesperspire Academy is where the weird stuff goes down. Night summons, shadow manipulation, lunar things. Basically.

Alistair quickly relayed this message to Ghost.

“Wonderful,” Ghost said. “It seems as if Lysander’s death will benefit us all considering what we are able to do. Are you done talking with Juno yet?”

“Do I look like I’m done?”

“Hurry.”

Juno: When are you coming back?

Alistair: Hopefully tomorrow night. Late. Don’t wait up for me.

Juno: If I’m up, I’ll be sleepwalking.

Alistair: Noted. I’ll lead you back to bed if that is the case.

Juno: Hell yeah. Tuck my ass in. Fun fact: Zola doesn’t believe I sleepwalk.

Alistair: I can confirm you do.

Juno: Can you tell her now? I’ll deal with the aftermath.

Alistair: Like… right now?

Juno: That would be ideal.

Alistair: Hey, Juno sleepwalks and it is crazy. I’ve had to take him back to his bedroom multiple times now.

Zola: What? Alistair? Why are you telling me this?

Alistair: Juno and I are chatting.

Zola: We’re supposed to be fighting fire imps!

Juno: Yo, I’m in deep shit now, but it was worth it. Ha! Anyway, I’ll get back to grinding here and showing Zola why Piglet is going to be the tankiest tank this side of tanksville once I get done leveling this little oinker up. He should be evolving, as in, the next hour or so if we keep squashing imps. If not, I’m going to toss him a Resonant Room and pray for the best. See you soon!

****

As Alistair reached Marrowstone, he was reminded of something Ghost said last night. This time, he moved to the side of the road before poking the assassin.

“What did you mean last night after Felix went on his weird breeding rant?”

Ghost: You and Kanda. It makes sense, is what I meant.

“You mean us…?” he whispered.

Ghost: Yes, I mean the two of you forming a bond and having children. I don’t advocate for teenage sex, if that’s how you are taking this. What I’m saying is I can see how Felix would find this intriguing, and since he thinks of people like cattle, for him to consider who Kanda later breeds with is something that doesn’t surprise me.

“So you aren’t saying we should?”

Ghost: I’m saying it would make sense, especially if she was leader of the Baronblades and you were her commanding officer. Alistair, you need to face the facts.

“What facts?”

Ghost: You are not going to be your run-of-the-mill battledeck mage at this rate. You have already seen too much of Solaria’s criminal underbelly. It will continue to taint your understanding of our world.

Alistair didn’t respond to this.

He couldn’t deny the recent feelings swirling in his head. On one hand, he liked the Academy, and he certainly liked his friends. But he also realized that what he was doing, and the people he was associating with because of Ghost, were changing the trajectory of his life.

“Where are we going now?” he said after a beat.

Ghost: Should I take it from here?

“By all means. What are you going to tell her, exactly?”

Ghost: Just let me handle everything, do not interject, do not interrupt me, and be ready.

Alistair almost said ready for what? but decided against it. He had been with Ghost long enough now to know that these sorts of questions were futile. At this point, he was along for the ride.

Ghost moved on, hood over his head, always keeping out of the way of people passing by and doing his very best to blend in with the scenery. Alistair watched it all happen before him, Marrowstone indeed quaint, with a bustling town square followed by a few public parks and a merchant’s quarter that had plenty of horse drawn carriages kicking up dust.

They reached the other side of Marrowstone and approached a nice brick home with a fenced in backyard and plenty of tree coverage.

“This is it,” was all Ghost said as he stepped to the front door and knocked.

An older woman with tufts of red in her gray hair answered. She was tall and muscular, the woman in a beige apron over a set of robes. She squinted down at him. “May I help you, young man?”

“I have returned.” Ghost said in his scratchy weird voice that he had been speaking through Alistair’s vocal cords.

The woman blinked twice. “Ghost?”

He nodded.

“So this is it, then?”

Ghost nodded again.

“I had a feeling this day would come after I got Kang’s last message. Let me get my sword, and we can head out back.”

“Thank you, mother. I look forward to killing you.”

Alistair: What!?

The woman exhaled audibly. “I look forward to doing the same. Please, come in. Perhaps we can have some tea before we begin.”

“Thank you. I would like that.”