Garrett waited in the foyer of Paramonos’ house to be received. Paramonos had sent for Garrett to discuss certain things about the girl with him and Garrett was sure he already knew what it was about, but he had to feign ignorance. Paramonos came down the hallway, already giving Garrett a wide, jovial smile from afar.

“Mister Garetas, I am glad you made it on such short notice!” He said while shaking Garrett’s hand.

“Well, Master Paramonos, I do put my trust in you, so if you need to talk about something, I trust you it is important.”

Paramonos chuckled heartily while unlocking the door to his study. “Very good then, enter and take a seat, refreshments will be brought momentarily.”

Garrett took place in one of the armchairs to the side of the room and Paramonos took place in the one next to it. They had barely started Smalltalk when Timaeus entered with a tray with tea and biscuits, put it down on a small side table and left the room again, closing the door behind him.

Silence had filled the room and Paramonos began talking again, pouring them some tea. “You see, Nannade's behaviour this last months has... changed, for the worse.”

Garrett raised his most inquisitive eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“It is many things. She has become somewhat abrasive towards the other students, of both higher and of lower rank. She does get treated with some animosity, but at least to her seniors, she should show respect, especially Timaeus, who has shown nothing but good will.”

Garrett wasn’t surprised. “She keeps her distance and she values it very highly. This stay is not to teach her social etiquette.”

“Please, let me finish.” Paramonos gathered his thoughts. “She rebukes my advice, her performance in classes has suffered the other teachers told me, she spends all her free days away and not dedicating them to her lessons as far as I can tell, and she has received a horrible wound on her side, I believe some of her ribs might be badly broken! I know that training and experience in the field is as important as education for Hidden Hands, but you must go easy on her, if she is injured too gravely, the pain might cause the daemon to lash out and take control of her.”

Garrett knew exactly about those last two, but it was not from contracts or training. Still, Nannade breaking her ribs was a well-calculated move that was certainly necessary. “I am intrigued by her behaviour, I will surely have a talk with her, especially about her academic performance. Is there anything else I should know?”

Paramonos inhaled deeply. “Yes, the most important part, Mister Garetas.” He leaned forward and spoke in a more hushed tone. “During our common meditation, where I try to teach the girl and the daemon the hierarchy they must assume, Nannade has started to side with the daemon.”

Garrett couldn’t tell how far he could push is act of idiocy until Paramonos noticed something was up. He decided to keep going for now. “Is that bad? Are they not supposed to act together?”

“Yes and no. The daemon is supposed to follow the girl’s instructions, not the other way around. But as I see it, they already agreed on something. I am afraid that she might have been swayed by the voracious nature of the snake.”

Garrett leaned back, faking a contemplative hum. “I have observed the girl during work and I have to admit that she is much more collected. She is much more balanced and collected. She performs her duties admirably and I was impressed with her. Are you saying that this is not you work?”

Paramonos seemed to ponder on that proposition. “I am not sure. It certainly isn't my teaching. I would have had her progress in a different direction.”

“Which one?”

“Primarily to make the daemon completely subservient, rather than synchronous.”

Garrett leaned forward. “I hope you realize that I prefer the current state for the practice of the girl’s future vocation, right? If both can strike at the same time with each other, it is much better for combat and beyond. The girl still has her own mind, that much I can tell you. I appreciate your concern, but please, our first and foremost concern is that the girl does not lose herself. Please continue to observe her.” Garrett was about to stand up and get ready to leave when Paramonos shot up and beckoned him to stay.

“You do not understand, Mister Garetas! I believe the girl is close to being devoured by the daemon!”

Garrett knew Paramonos was bluffing by now. “I am very sure my colleague Black Surgeon assured me that this was impossible, they share a soul, one can only momentarily overpower the other, not ‘devour’ the other!”

“Well...” Paramonos was hesitant. The girl was right, he did have ulterior motives, and needed Garrett’s help to weaken the girl’s mental defences. No chance! “It is a rather complicated thing to handle all of a sudden and the girl is still in a formative phase of her mind after all...”

Garrett interrupted Paramonos by standing up for good. “I place great trust in you. Help the girl academically, extract from her whatever knowledge you can, but DO NOT” Garrett raised his index finger and expanded his chest as wide as possible. “interfere with her emotional development without consulting me first! I hope I made myself clear!”

Paramonos swallowed whatever he was about to say and nodded. “Yes, of course!”

Garrett finished his tea and smiled. “Have a nice day.”

Paramonos did not accompany him to the door. As he had pulled the house’s door shut behind him and exhaled. He knew he had the master under control for now, but his jovial nature only reached skin deep, he would find that G other ways to get what he wanted from the girl. And so, Garrett needed to find other ways to get what he wanted from the Houses of Mystery: the girl’s second mark of approval. There were the other houses, no single one held power over all of them, they were all rivals to an extent, especially for funds and access to their desired knowledge. It was this knowledge which Garrett had bartered with in order to get Paramonos to accept the girl into his care, but he seemed to have put his eyes on a test subject than a study subject. There was one other house that would be greatly interested in the girl: The House of the Unthought. Although they had the reputation to be vapour-heads, they knew knowledge when they saw it, and the making of a god would be a most interesting subject to them. A good thing he had the girl keep a diary. He would have to broker a deal before Paramonos decided on an all-out attack to make the girl his.

He went back home to his apartment with a hasty step. He had letters to write, strategies to consider, deals were to strike, alliances to secure, hopefully better ones than Paramonos. His work was far from done and the girl needed to focus on her work completely.