"Bel, I think you've tortured her enough," Paul said, watching as Isabella dragged a morose James from the bathroom. James wore the same shirt and pants as before her shower.

"Aww, but I haven't got to dress her up yet," Isabella pouted but released James' hand.

"I really don't want to be a dress-up doll," James sighed and turned to Paul. "Help me, please!"

Paul scratched the back of his head, not meeting James' eyes. "Yeah, I wasn't sure how to bring it up," he said before sighing himself and turning to James. "But I'm sorry. I was freaked out yesterday, and I just went with it earlier. I kind of overreacted."

James wasn't sure what to say. This entire experience had been strange and dangerous. She had brought it to his doorstep. "Yeah, me too. I guess." She gestured to herself. Then, she pointed to the living room, where her backpack and the arcane slates lay. "Sorry for all of... this. What happened to being scared?"

"Well, it's more than that," Paul said, looking as if someone had sent him to the principal's office. "You're like this right now, and it's really confusing. I really shouldn't have said what I did. You don't have to stay like this."

"You're not going to change your mind suddenly again?" James asked.

"Maybe? No... I don't know. Just..." Paul trailed off before he shook his head. "No, I won't. You're a friend. I shouldn't have pushed that."

Isabella looked a bit pensive before she waved her hands. "Yeah, I'm sorry too. I kind of got carried away. It's just you're so cute."

James still didn't know how she felt about being called cute, so she filed the strange emotions away for later. She nodded her head at her friend and his significant other. "Thanks. I don't really want to stay like this, but I also don't have anywhere else to go." She sighed once more. "At the same time, I don't want to cause you trouble if I get found out."

They all went silent briefly, the conversation lapsing at that declaration. James wondered if she had messed up by bringing the topic back to that.

Paul managed to break the silence. "Yeah. Well. I was thinking about that. As scary as they are, I want to experiment with those summoning devices."

James nodded sagely. She had the same desire when she first discovered their existence and decided to warn him. "Sure, but they're pretty dangerous themselves. That's how I ended up with a tail in the first place."

She flicked her tail and waggled her ears to make her point. Isabella squeaked at the gesture, and James stepped back from the scary woman. "Uhmmm."

Paul grabbed Isabella's hand to keep her from running over to James. "Well, okay. But I have a lot of cards..." Paul said, trailing off before gathering his thoughts. "I uhm... I already gave you one, and it seemed to work fine."

"But you were also batted across the room by a giant bird," James said in counter.

"What?" Isabella said, looking over at Paul. "What did you do?"

"Okay, yes, that did happen," Paul said before wincing as Isabella squeezed his hand. "Bel."

"Explain," Isabella demanded, as her stare bored into him.

"Monsters have some kind of self-defense mechanism. They don't like being touched," James explained quickly.

Isabella relented, and Paul continued. "My point is. You don't have to look like this if you want to hide. I have a few other humanoid monsters that might be a better fit."

"I had had that thought," James deadpanned. "But I wasn't sure how to bring it up."

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A few hours passed as the group began experimenting with the slates. James flicked another card into the 'failure' pile. This last one was an Armored Gorilla. "Okay, it doesn't work with any of your cards. I've even tried some regular monster cards." His copy of Puppeteer seemed limited to his copy of the Illusionist Trainee, or rather '???' as it was now labeled.

A Flower Pixie sitting next to him nodded as it mimicked Isabella's movements. It wore a flowery dress, and its delicate wings fluttered. It mimicked her looking at a collection of cards. It had the same typing, Nature/Light, as the Illusionist Trainee. That hadn't changed the effects of either Puppeteer card.

Paul nodded in agreement. "Yeah, neither of your cards works in the arena. Obviously, my genuine copy of Puppeteer didn't produce results either. Bel, don't you think that's enough?"

The small, winged woman mimicked Isabella by floating into the air as she stood up. "You guys are such nerds. Though some of these are pretty cute." She picked out a card and showed it to Paul. "Can I keep this Kuyo monster?"

"The card, yes, the monster, no. They're not pets," James said as he waved the magical dust the pixie gave off away from his face. "Paul, can you dismiss this already?" The puppeteer card overcame the standard self-defense mechanism of monsters. Despite that, it had limited practical uses.

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"Yeah, sorry, Bel," Paul said as he pulled a card from the slate beside him. The pixie vanished into a swirl of green and white motes of energy, which dissipated into the air. "I guess running it longer didn't do anything special."

"I didn't want to be that short anyway," Isabella said as she tossed the cards she had down next to the other piles. "What now?"

James rubbed his forehead. "Ugh, I really don't know what to do. All this happened so fast. "

Paul nodded at that. "Yeah. I know what you mean. I'll do my best to help, but I'm not a fighter. I almost vomited looking at that bit of blood you dripped on my floor yesterday."

James had entirely forgotten about that during the night and subsequent activities. He glanced at the new clear patch of floor. "I'm sorry about that. I really should have cleaned it up."

Isabella shook her head. "It's really not important, so don't worry about it. You should be focusing on what to do next. What about your parents or siblings?"

James glanced away from them and shook his head. "I don't have parents anymore. "

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

James put up a hand to forestall any further comments. "No, it's okay. It was a few years ago. I'm mostly over it." He shook his head again and continued. "As for relatives, I have a few, but not anybody I'd want to hide out with."

Paul set his cards down and looked around, considering. He finally looked back at James. "So what are you going to do? I don't mind you crashing here for a while, but you're kind of wanted."

"I want to just get out of this. Now that I know everything that has happened, I'm not sure if I can." James sighed as he examined the '???' card. " I think I'll need to do what Isabella suggested. I don't want to, but it's the only real option. I need to meet with Elias."

"Ooh, so I will get my dress-up doll back?" Isabella asked, grinning a bit.

"Can we not?" James asked.

"Sure, but only if you dress yourself up," Isabella said with a smile.

"Ugh... I need to work on the fox's illusion magic," James said as an excuse. "I'm sure what I have will work."

Paul nodded as he looked over the large selection of cards. "While you do that, I can work on figuring out some of these card combinations. Though I don't have anything higher than tier eight. They resell for too much." He picked up one of the arcane slates. "The slates have a three-card limit. That makes it harder to make a good combination, but you could combine them for more capacity."

"Well, I guess we have a plan. I'll go shopping, you two... do whatever," Isabella said as she grabbed her purse from the counter, only to turn and see the two men staring at her. "What? For James, well, his fox side, obviously. Can't go on a date with his worst enemy without looking good."

"Is there anything I can do to stop you?" James asked, almost resigned to his fate at this point.

"Nope," Isabella said with a grin. "Every time you complain, I add more frills."

Isabella exited the apartment shortly after. James looked over at Paul. "So, how many years do you think I would be in for if I turn myself in?"

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James sat cross-legged on the couch, her eyes closed, and focused on her magic. She inhaled, paused, and then exhaled. In and out, she breathed, concentrating on getting the illusion right. Slowly, the magic came together and crept up and around her ears. She tried to distribute the magic across them while keeping it from seeping over her hair. She mentally locked it in place before opening her eyes. She looked over to Paul, seated at the small dining table, sorting through a selection of cards. So she cleared her throat to get his attention. "Ahem, Paul, how does it look this time?"

"Huh?" Paul said as he looked up to look at James and gestured to her right side. "The left one is still kind of visible."

James sighed as she released the magic, and her two fox-like ears popped back into the visual spectrum. Her head was already throbbing with the effort she had put into controlling her magic.

"Well, the card is called the Illusionist Trainee for a reason," James sighed. It was tough to get a good hold of the magic.

"I heard you the first time. You don't have to keep saying it," Paul said as he returned to the cards covering the table.

James snatched up a pillow from beside her and threw it at him. The pillow proved not to be very effective as it bounced off his head and scattered a few cards. She narrowed her eyes, staring at her old friend, and said, "You could at least try to be helpful."

"I am being helpful," Paul said as he adjusted the cards the pillow had knocked out of order. "The bushido set is old and has a few specific counters. For example, the Moonlit Night set, which the Illusionist Trainee just happens to be a part of, has one of the biggest."

"I meant with my magic," James said, twirling a finger in the air. Above it, a small, purple, glowing ball materialized there. It didn't produce much light and soon dissipated. That was the extent of what she had managed beyond disappearing.

"Oh, so sorry. I regret to inform you that I am just a lowly human," Paul said as he waved a few cards around. "I have to use tools to use any kind of magic."

James huffed as she sat back on the couch and tried to clear her head. They had been getting on each other's nerves since Isabella left to shop a few hours earlier. "Sorry."

"Yeah," Paul said without looking over.

James shook her head. It was true. She had the thing most people could only dream of, inherent magic. To say she wasn't excited by that would be a lie. There was a reason that enchanters were the most well-paid profession in the world. Without the complex magical devices, humans had no hope of using magic.

Still, her attempts to use it to do more than hide were hitting significant obstacles. Using her magic on a smaller area was less taxing but more complex. Not only did she have to hide her ears or tail, but she had to recreate the bits of herself hidden by the illusion. If the magic hadn't been doing most of the heavy lifting, she doubted she would have made as much progress as she had.

She had found that it wasn't too difficult if she could see the body part she was hiding. However, it was hard to get it to work without feedback. She couldn't walk around holding a mirror to ensure her ears and tail remained hidden.

The illusion magic was, so far, her most effective trump card. She didn't need a card to use it, and invisibility, even an imperfect variety, was invaluable.

James shook her head and resumed her practice until it became late. Then, finally, Isabella returned from her shopping trip.