"Alright. Now that I know the process works, it's just a matter of repetition from here on." I say after I get started on the next batch of cocoa beans. "So, Edsel." I turn to the earth mage. "I'd like to talk more about the bicycle, but Elise wanted to discuss some medical drawings first."

"That's fine." He waves his hand in the air like he just don't care. "I'd love to see a complete working model, but as long as you're making more of this chocolate stuff I'm not going anywhere. Please, take your time."

"Thank you for being patient." I smile at the healer. "Where would you like to start?"

"Not a problem." She smiles back. "It was definitely worth it. And, I suppose we should continue with her head, if that's alright with Annette, that is."

"It's fine." She nods. "But, are you sure you can paint and cook at the same time?"

"Oh, honey." Apricot shakes her head with a laugh. "You haven't even seen Sorrel cook for real, yet. He gets his magic and all four arms going without even looking at anything, and can still carry on a conversation while making some of the best food you ever tasted."

"This I would like to see." Granville snorts out a laugh of his own.

"Maybe later." I fight not to roll my eyes at the silly cook. "Shall I start on the outside with the skull and blood vessels, and then work my way in? I'll paint the arteries in red and the veins in blue for clarity."

"That would be fantastic." She sounds genuinely excited.

"Eww, that is so weird." Anne squirms as front, side, rear, top and bottom pictures of her skull appear on the page before us.

Her blood vessels branching out from largest to smallest as she watches. I don't bother drawing out all the capillaries, but instead add a zoomed-in version of a small section. Several other close up examples of bone joins, the interior of the bone itself, and the insides of veins soon follow.

"You did volunteer for this dear." Her mother grins.

"Want to see what your muscles look like next? I'll use yellow lines to indicate nerves on this one." The five views of her skull show up on another sheet and get coated with flesh. "I've never scanned a beastkin before, so this part is rather interesting. Humans have all the same musculature around their ears, but much weaker, and nearly useless."

"Could you draw a comparison sheet." Elise leans forward, so I shift my hand to her head and do as she asks. "Oh, you're right. That is fascinating." She traces out the individual muscle groups on each picture.

Since we're on the ear, I draw out a complete model including one full sheet dedicated to just the cochlea. The interior of the nose and mouth come next, including detailed close-ups of each type of tooth, and the two cavities that are starting to form.

"I told you to take better care of your teeth." Glynda growls softly at her daughter.

"Nnh." Anne squirms again. "Oh, no. No, I can't watch this part." She closes the eyes I'm drawing.

"See how the nerves bunch up here, that's what causes your blind spot." Elise looks up at me quizzically, so I draw that 'plus and circle' test. "Close your right eye, and look here with your left. Then you just need to move in and out until the circle disappears."

"Ack!" She startles when she finds the right spot. "You have to try this Glynda."

"You think that's fun, try this one." I make another and surround the circle with vertical lines.

Erick takes this one and has a similar reaction as his cousin did. "How? The lines just continue." He moves it in and out a few times just to be sure. "Are everyone's eyes like this?"

"Are you done yet?" Anne peeks open her eyes to see everyone moving pieces of paper back and forth in front of their faces. "What are you guys doing?"

I just hand her another copy with printed instructions before answering the baron. "As far as I know everything with vertebrae has the same flaw in their eyes. Cephalopods like squids and cuttlefish are the only creatures I know of that have similar looking eyes, but with the nerve running along the outside meaning no blind spot. And, before you ask, this is somewhat common knowledge where I'm from."

"How weird." He laughs it off. "Do you know why the lines fill in though?"

"The brain is good at filling in missing information like that." I take a moment to create a quick flip-book animation of a horse running. "See. You're looking at still pictures, but your brain stitches them together into a moving image."

Everyone crowds around him as he flips through the animation. "More common knowledge?"

"Yes, paper is fairly cheap there. So most children end up making a flip-book like that at one point or another." I explain. "We even have enchanted devices that use the same principle to playback scenes as they happened." Apricot smirks and Amelia blushes when they remember me last talking about those devices.

"Your homeland sounds very interesting." He looks at me rather seriously.

"Unfortunately I have no idea how to get there from here." A sigh escapes my lips. "And, I can tell you honestly that it was so far away that I had never heard of Larendath or even this continent of Varecia."

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"My apologies for bringing it up." He gives me a slightly sad look.

I just nod back and take a deep breath before turning back to Elise and her step-daughter. "Shall I move onto the brain now?"

"..." Anne squeezes her eyes shut again.

"Hahahah." Her mother has the same donkey-like laugh. "I'd say that's a yes."

The chocolate has been poured into the molds by the time I finish detailing the gross structures. So, I take a moment to really dive in, but try as I might, I just can't make out individual neurons. Something about the brain itself was causing interference.

"Nng." I grumble at my failure. "Sorry, I tried to get a closer look at individual cells, but I just could not focus in close enough. I've seen drawings before that depict them somewhat like this, but I don't really know very much about the brain."

"You likely know more about it than any healer I've ever met." Elise stares at the detailed paintings in reverence.

"Mhm." This is making me somewhat uncomfortable, but this knowledge could be useful to the healers of this world. "About all I remember is that the different parts of the brain tend to handle different functions, but there is some overlap in some parts. And, sometimes when one part is damaged, other bits may be able to take over for it. But, I really don't know what does what, even how accurate that description is."

"Is the chocolate ready to eat yet?" Apricot comes to my rescue by changing the subject.

"It's cooled down enough, yes." I de-mold the candies, and pass them out. "Mmm, this batch is much better, those last ones just didn't roast enough." After taking my nibbles, I split the remainder between the girls like before. "This is probably good enough for me to work on a larger batch, that way everybody can get more than just a bite."

"Yes, please." Anne nods emphatically, and the others quickly murmur their assent.

"Oh, here you all are." Reinholt walks in just then. "What's going on, why's everyone in the kitchen?"

"Sorrel is showing us how that horrid drink of yours is supposed to be made." Chef Granville takes some leftover cocoa powder and mixes up some hot-cocoa just like I showed him. "Drink." He thrusts the cup at the baron's son.

"Heheh. While you all tell Reinholt what he's been missing." I say while standing up from the table. "I'm going to go grow enough beans for a decent batch. I'll be back in a moment." I head for the backyard again, the girls following in my wake.

"You doing alright?" Amelia asks once we're on our own.

"I will be." I set out the cocoa tree and force it to flower again. "I understand that Erick is interested in my origins, but it's barely been a week, and I've mostly been trying not to think about it too hard. Then there's the whole future thing; sure I can make easy coin from clothes and paintings."

"And chocolate." Apricot adds.

"And chocolate." I smile at the silly pixie. "And, very likely healing, and probably a dozen other things. But, are any of those really what I want to do? Yes, living a hedonistic life with the two of you sounds great, but I need a plan for the future beyond just making as much love and coin as I can."

"What were you going to do before?" Amelia says while I pluck pod after pod from the tree. "Do you want to try and find your way home?" She tries to not show her reluctance to ask that question, but she's not very good at hiding her emotions.

"I know what I wanted to do, and even what job I likely would have gotten to work my way into that field. I also had a couple of backups, but none of those jobs exist here." A tired sigh escapes my lips. "As for going back home? Honestly, I don't think that's an option. And... I'm not sure I would go, even if I was offered the chance right now."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Amelia and Apricot pull me into a hug.

"I know." I squeeze them back. "And, I'm sure I'll feel better after eating a kilo or two of chocolate." I say it as a joke, but I might do just that.

"Well, I think you've got enough beans and then some." Amelia gestures to the fermentation tub that's several times larger than the first batch. "And, I'm sure you'll find your path soon."

"Thanks." Just knowing that I have someone to hold onto when I need it helps a lot. "But, speaking of paths. Are you going to follow after your parents, or explore more about magic now? And, what about you Apricot? Surely you must want something more than just food and sex?"

"What's wrong with just food and sex?" Apricot laughs it off. And, I, not wanting to push, just let it go.

"I've always wanted to be a famous trader, but magic..." Amelia sighs while drying out the beans for me. "Even when I'm doing something like this, I keep forgetting that I could become a real mage now. I really should learn more, but if I want to be serious about it that means moving to the capital at the very least. I... I just don't know."

"Well." I say. "Then it looks like the both of us have some thinking to do." I glance at apricot, but she's masking her emotions right now. "But, right now, we have chocolate to make." I store everything and head back inside.

"Erick had a meeting to attend." Elise greets us when we return. "But, he asked that you save some of the chocolate for him."

"Well, hopefully there will be enough." I say with a smile before depositing a large barrel full of fermented and dried beans next to Granville. He's working with Edsel to grind up a batch of beans. So, I grab one of the others that have come out of the oven and get started on it. "So, Reinholt. How did you like my version of hot chocolate?"

"It's... not the worst drink I've ever had." He shrugs, but I see the mug he was handed by the chef has been completely drained. "I'm not a big fan of milk though, or rather it's not a fan of me. And, I do miss the bitterness a bit."

"Oh, you can try using nut milk, or just plain water. Though, I had one friend who couldn't drink milk either that swore by oat milk. I always thought it was a bit thick for my taste, but to each their own."

"Do those plants produce milk where you're from?" He gives me a strange look.

"No." I laugh. "You just blend the stuff up with water and strain out the pulp. It's not for everyone, but a lot of people like milk, but can't drink it. And, as for the bitterness, you can try melting some dark or even baking chocolate. That, or just drink coffee, I guess."

"Coffee?" He and the chef look at me with interested eyes.

"It’s another tropical fruit like cocoa, only they're small red berries instead of big pods." I draw a picture of what they look like. "The beans can be roasted and ground much like you were doing with the cocoa before. It's much stronger than tea too, for when you really need a pick me up."

"Hmm?" Granville examines the drawing. "It doesn't look familiar, but I'll ask my suppliers. Any uses besides as a drink?"

"Yeah, mostly in desserts, including one of my favorite ice-creams. But, I've also seen it used as part of a dry rub for meat. Yes Apricot, I said rub and meat in the same sentence." I roll my eyes at the tittering pixie. "I like Temmie as much as the next guy, but not everything is a dirty joke. And, don't you go booing me again either. Or, I won't let you watch me polish my staff later." *Ding* The goddess barks out a laugh as I trail my fingers down Blackthorne.

"Are you followers of Temmie?" Annette asks, her cheeks pink with embarrassment.

"Oh, Amelia follows Marten, but we're trying to win her over." I smile over at the blonde who's just shaking her head at us. "So, are you still up for being a model? Your step-mom looks like she's eager to continue."

"Uh, yeah. Just, umm... no more eyeballs please." She wrinkles her nose and shivers a bit.