"Okay, it wasn't all bad, I guess," Dave smiled. "We had ice cream."

“Oh?”

"Frozen sweet milk with flavors. Like... imagine the coldest, sweetest thing you've ever tasted."

"Yeah. We have that here too," Remicra commented with a look of mild amusement. "The Frostix Kitlix make it."

"Of course there's a Kitlix for that," Dave chuckled. "Is there anything these crystal cats can't do?"

"They can't fix stupid," Remicra deadpanned, then quickly added. "Not that I'm calling you stupid right now. Just... What did you think of me when we first met?"

"Honestly? I thought you were beautiful and equally terrifying," Dave admitted with a grin. "All scales and claws and 'get out of my smithy before I eat you' energy."

"Good. That was the intended effect," Remicra commented. “Wait… beautiful?" Her scales suddenly shifted to bright pink, the color spreading from her neck up her face and then towards her hands. “Are you messing with me right now?”

“What? Have you seen yourself? The way your scales catch the light, constantly changing colors like living aurora? It's pretty amazing,” he grinned. “I’m being serious. It’s like you were designed to look perfect. Honestly, every girl in Shandria is pretty in one way or another, but you’re like a living gem. Living mood ring?”

“Mood ring?”

“We had these neat rings back on Earth made from thermochromic liquid crystals. It wasn’t real magic, but they were marketed as ‘magic rings’. When I was seven and my parents were still together, my mom bought me one. I wore it on a necklace for years after, since it wouldn’t fit on my finger anymore. Eventually the thermochromic element faded away… but I still treasured it as the memory of my childhood, of carefree days filled with sunshine that I’ve lost. Your scales remind me of that ring.”

"S-shut up," Remicra stammered, her tail curling around her leg. "You can't just say things like that!"

"Why not?”

"Because!" Remicra huffed. "Humans aren't supposed to find s-someone like me beautiful like a precious ring!”

“Heh. What am I supposed to see you as?”

“All highborn humans see someone like me as incredibly impure poison,” the dragoness explained. “Thrice corrupted by otherness… Since my scales constantly change color, humans think it's a third affinity.”

"Eh, sorry to disappoint," Dave grinned. "You can’t scare me away with your magic scales. Back on Earth, I thought dragons were the coolest thing ever. Had dragon posters all over my room as a kid."

"You... collected pictures of dragons?" Remicra asked with an incredulous look.

"Yep. Dragons, spaceships, and computers. I was quite the nerd,” Dave rubbed the back of his head with a grin.

"What's a ‘nerd’?"

"Someone who gets really excited about specific obscure things and knows way too much about them," Dave explained.

“What’s a ‘spaceship’?”

“Uhhh,” Dave pondered. “The closest local analogy would be a skyship. A metal tube that can fly… except instead of magic it uses explosive fuel.”

“I see.”

“So, what did you think when I first showed up?" He added trying to redirect the conversation away from his nerdiness.

"You were incredibly suspicious.” Remicra muttered. "And very annoying. Still are, actually."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Marginally less annoying than the handsy fox and dangerous green elk making a mess of my forge downstairs," Remicra added, her pink and gold tinted cheeks betraying her words.

“Hm? What do you have against Terri?” He asked. “What do you mean she’s dangerous?”

"Her smile is fake," Remicra said. "She's too... perfect. Too controlled. Like she's playing a role she's rehearsed a thousand times. Like deep inside, she’s afraid of taking the wrong step. At least the fox is openly bothersome and doesn't try to hide it. But that elk... she feels wrong… lethal like a hidden blade.”

----------------------------------------

Downstairs, Cedez watched as Terri meticulously arranged chairs and tables that Hyrei had brought from the cafe, guiding the two other Healers with a soft smile.

"Hey," Cedez said, grabbing Terri's arm. "Elk. We need to talk."

Before Terri could protest, Cedez dragged her into the back storage room, closing the door behind them.

“Yes?” Terri asked with a soft voice.

"What exactly do you want from Dave?" Cedez demanded.

"I want what Saint Saria wanted."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Which is?”

“To break the pattern,” Terri replied. “I’ve already explained myself. I serve Saint Saria’s wish.”

“Which is?” Cedez purred.

"To prevent David from becoming someone worse than Kells," Terri replied. “To guide and protect him.”

“What happened before Kells? You keep saying that there were other Davids. Why in the Abyss did Kells have Necromancy? Why did Dave get Phantomancy without killing anything?”

Terri's smile faltered slightly. "I... I don't know all the specific details."

"Come on now," Cedez insisted. "You've got your Saint's memories in that noggin of yours, no?"

"It's not that simple," Terri's ears drooped. "It’s not like using a Kitlix… I can’t just recall everything that the Saint knew. The connection is imperfect. It comes and goes.”

"Try harder," Cedez stepped closer, a shadowy halo dancing atop of her head. “What happens to Dave when he becomes fully overcome with Vexirium?”

"He won't," Terri insisted, trembling ever so slightly. "I won't let him."

"How many Davids has your family 'guided' into the Abyss?" Cedez demanded.

"I don't know," Terri stammered.

"Liar liar pants on fire," Cedez sang, the halo over her head growing darker, pulsing with shadowy blades flickering upwards almost like a crown. “Come on, darling Lari… come out and talk to me. I tire of conversing with your clueless pawn.”

Terri’s green eyes ignited with blue rings from within. The green Kitlix sitting on the Healer's head suddenly stretched itself across her antlers forming a spider-web-like pattern of green, sharp strands.

"You think you're the only one who cares about him? Who wants to protect him? My family has carried this burden for generations! We've watched him die again and again, watched him lose his mind, become twisted by the power he carries!" Terri snapped. Her voice became overlaid with that of another, older female. “It’s not his fault! It’s this damned place! This cursed megastructure screws with everyone!”

"Eh? Don’t give me your angry ghost attitude," Cedez hissed back. "You claim that you made me. I deserve to know why! Tell me about the first David, Lari! Tell me what he did!”

“Terrible things,” Terri replied with a voice that didn't belong to her. “Unimaginably terrible things. I… arrived on Arx far too late to stop him.”

“Yeees?”

“He… he’s still alive,” The ghostly voice revealed. “He won’t die. He’s still out there... I… We… We have to stop him. At any cost.”

"Oh? Is that why you're so desperate to 'guide' our Dave?" Cedez's eyes narrowed. "Because you're afraid he'll become like the first one? What’s the current name of this first Dave? Is he in Shandria now?!”

“I already told you too much,” Terri shook her head. “I told the second Dave that came to Shandria about the first. It was a terrible mistake. It didn’t go well. He didn't take the fact that he turned into a monster very well.”

"Oh, so now you're being coy?" Cedez's shadow crown grew larger, more menacing, shadow wings spreading behind her back. "After your thrice-damned Maidenlyne literally shattered my soul and bound it with a piece of you? Wait… is it…”

Cedez choked on her own guess just as green lightning struck her, sending her careening into a wall, the shadow wings and crown decaying away into vanishing wisps of smoke. She tried to move, but found herself completely paralyzed, her last thought knocked out of her mind.

Terri’s eyes became filled with ocean-blue, completely drowning out the green. Cold, ancient eyes examined the fox on the floor as the elk walked towards the fallen fox. “Kells clearly screwed something up catastrophically when he made you,” the voice of an old, female Archmage spoke.

Cedez blinked, looking up at the Healer’s white and green robes. Terri reached down to the fallen fox, caressing her head with slender fingers. Green crystalline roots of the stretched Vitalix Kitlix spread across the Healer’s hands, green lightning dancing on the edges, striking Cedez in the head.

“How did the Huntsmaws know that David was in this tower? Are they attracted to you? Do the other shards of princess Nixlix know everything you know?” Saint Saria asked.

“Cus they're me. They learn what I know when I turn into a shadow and remember things about Dave when they look at him… just like me,” Cedez thought blearily. “Damn it, this elk has big sharp ghost teeth.”

“Hrm,” the ancient ghost puppeteering the elkin frowned. “You’re leaking valuable information to the other princess shards then.”

“Are you in my head? Argh. I’m not leaking anything,” Cedez thought. “Not on purpose… It’s just the shared dream… I wish that…”

"You're their eyes and ears, their perfect spy in our midst,” glacier-blue, emotionless eyes stared down at Cedez. “This is a problem.”

"I would never betray Dave!" Cedez choked mentally.

"Not consciously," the Cantigeist said. "But you're somehow connected to all the other shards. Everything you see, they can see. You’ve caused enough problems for Dave, foolish girl. You’re escalating his condition with your handshakes!”

“I just want to help him,” Cedez thought. “I just want him to get strong. He hasn’t fallen into a coma, he’s not like the others… My handshake attracted eleven Huntsmaws to Dave, but we've beaten them back and Dave consumed their souls so they won't return again..."

“You’re making his Verixium worse, making his heartcore grow far too quickly for his body to handle. This is enough cause for me to unmake you right now. I am curious though. Who is Remicra exactly? Why did you bring David here? Why not live with him at your Cafe? Why involve the dragon smith in your plans at all?”

"I... I don't know," Cedez struggled against the paralysis. "I just... dream of them both. Every night when I lose myself, I see them together, happy. I saw her future with him in fragments, glimpses. I've been dreaming of her smile for years. She's... important to our success! Without Remy at Dave's side… everything falls apart! She’s the key to open every door!”

"An unexpected variable," Saint Saria's voice considered. "Desire not born from my fragment or Nixlix's shards.”

“What if it's… Foresight?” Cedez thought.

"Hrm," Saint Saria pondered. "A Nixlix shard with precognitive abilities? No. The eyes of my Kitlix witness no Wisdom stars in your Aura, only the Null Shadow. I don’t like unexpected variables. They don’t lead to good results.”

“What results have you to show for it? Have you succeeded at least once or are you just making it worse for Dave?!” Cedez snarled mentally.

“Hrm,” Terri's face frowned. “Too many variables were set against me. I am stronger now, more magically potent. I can succeed this time. I found him early, unbroken.”

"Damn it, release me!" Cedez hissed mentally. "I want to help Dave. I want to protect him, just like you do!"

"You aren’t helping him if you're feeding information to the shadows of Shandria," Saint Saria pointed out.

"Give me a chance damn it," Cedez thought desperately.

"Then find a way to sever your data connection to the other shards before this day ends," Saria commanded. "Or I will be forced to unmake what you are to protect David. Do we understand each other, fox?”