Through freezing wind and shroud of night, Hailey had climbed through it all. Nearly at the peak of a massive snow-capped mountain that towered above everything else, she could see the end in sight.

“Come on, we’re almost there,” Mk3 said, jogging in place a few meters ahead of Hailey.

“You...just...don’t want to make this easy for me...do you?” Hailey said through gasped breaths.

“If we aren’t hard on ourself, we won’t get a thing done,” Mk3 responded.

Hailey silently agreed with her counterpart. She’d tried her damnedest to get to the top as quick as she could and was satisfied she did.

Light appeared on the horizon, signaling the beginning of a new day in the mountainous realm. Seeing that, Hailey pushed herself to take one last sprint to the top. She trudged through the snow, shaking as she made her body overcome its inhuman exhaustion.

She ended up falling facefirst on the peak, unable to continue.

“Finally, it took you long enough.”

Hailey raised her hand, pointing a finger up in a particularly crude gesture.

“Rude enough too.”

Hailey felt her strength paranormally return, so she stood up from the snow, wiping the flakes off her face. “Great, can I go now, or are you gonna tell me we’re climbing to the moon next?”

“Nope, you’re free to go.”

Hailey stretched, enjoying her regained vigor. “So, why were you so pissy to deal with? What’s the lesson in all this grass?”

“Did you not like it?”

“No, of course not. I don’t like when someone forces me to run at a breakneck pace up a mountain for half a day straight. Let alone when there isn’t a good point to it.”

“Well, there’s the lesson.”

“To like doing that?”

“No, I’m you. My personality comes from you.”

“So you’re saying...I’m the one that forces myself to do that,” Hailey said glumly.

“I am.”

Hailey stood on a cliff, looking at the landscape below. The scenery was stunning, maybe even worth the trip. Mountains curving off on the horizon, trees at the base, and ponds and craters strewed about the land. The sort of view people...well, climbed mountains to see. Hailey was relatively impartial towards it, but it at least justified the time she’d spent climbing.

“I don’t regret it, though,” Hailey said. “I’m hard on myself, and I’m hard on others. It’s true, I should probably be a little nicer, more encouraging about it, but being hard on people is my place.” Hailey turned around and faced her counterpart. “So there you go.”

A cloud approached them.

Her clone nodded. “There we go. We’re strong.”

Hailey stood in front of the approaching cloud, ready to be sent to her next trial. Her counterpart moved to stand next to her, facing her incoming death contently. Her slate would soon be cleared and sent to reincarnate. Although she wasn’t sure why Alchemia had chosen to keep living, that was her choice, as someone who’d separated from Hailey enough to have an identity all her own.

The storm of white covered the mountain, and the realm collapsed.

Taila sat in her robes, her feet set lazily on Taylor’s table. “So, you’re telling me that Hailey was cursed by Kait, and now she’s been whisked into the Consciousness for a journey of self-actualization? Well, I warned er’”

“You knew this would happen?” Taylor said skeptically before flipping an egg.

“Well, no. I just predicted she’d be bedridden in the next few days.” Tayla sipped from a cup of coffee Taylor had made for her. “You should know by now fortune reading isn’t a fine art.”

“If you say so.”

Taila put her legs back onto the floor. “So, Taitai number two, why’d you call me up? So I could see Hailey’s cute sleepy face?”

Tailor sighed. “Well, I was just wondering if you could test for my affinity.”

Taila smiled and leaned forward with interest. “Ohhh...what made you interested in fortune reading?”

“I...I just feel pretty useless, that’s all.”

“...Why do you feel like that? I’d say you’re the beacon of perseverance type.”

“Beacon of perseverance.” Tailor scoffed, “Ch! What’s that supposed to mean?

“You’re a leader with perseverance who inspires other people.”

Taylor placed the egg on a plate then handed it to Taila, who scarfed it down. “I won’t turn down your glowing praise, but that doesn’t mean I’m not useless in this situation...” He gritted his teeth. “Just standing here cooking for you while Hailey does...Whatever she does in there.”

Taila raised a finger. “Tut-tut-tut, Taylor. I see you’re missing the real piece of the puzzle.”

“What puzz-”

“You can’t accept you can’t fix everything.”

“Hmmm...” Taylor gave the statement serious thought.

“You might not have the tools to directly help, but there are things to do.”

“What do you mean...?”

“I said you’re a leader type. You can tell people what to do when things get tight, you organize your thoughts, you make sure everyone is happy. I can’t say for sure that’s who you are, but I see a lot of it in you.”

“And what makes you qualified to say all of this anyway?” Taylor said, feeling obligated to ask.

“I’m a fortune reader, so I tend to group people into personalities for the sake of my job. Some things need me to do that, like chemistry tests.”

“S...sure.”

“Anyhow, focus on what you’re good at. That’s my advice.”

The two were quiet, the conversation having no room for evolution.

“Oh, right! You wanted me to test for your affinity.”

“Yeah.”

“No problem, that’ll be ten dollars, please.” Taila held out her hand.

“Really?” Taylor said, taking her seriously.

Taila waved off his serious expression. “HA! Taitai, that was just a joke! Don’t take me so seriously!”

“Oh. So..what do we need to do? Do we need something from your shop?”

Taila stood up from her seat. “No, of course not. Just stand right next to me.”

Taylor followed her instructions and stood in front of her.

“Now, on the count of three...one...”

“Err, wait, what do I do?”

“Twoooo...”

“Uhh, ok, I guess I’m-”

“Three!” Taila crashed her head into Taylor’s, making both of them stumble around like fools, crying “owowow!” all the way.

Taylor held his forehead with his right arm, “Ahh...I guess that was how you do it?”

Taila was pretty used to it, so she’d already recovered. “And that’s part of my career, headbutting my clients to see if they’ve got magic in em’.”

Taylor shook his head, “Mom didn’t lie when she said you head-ass your life, then.”

“What’s that even supposed to mean?”

“Cause ‘head’ and ‘butt’ and ‘head’ and ‘ass’ instead of ‘half-ass’”

“Oh, I get it now. Quite the scathing comment, but not surprising coming from sis.” From there, the two sat back into their chairs, with Taila sipping her coffee again before continuing their conversation. “Sooooo...I take it you didn’t get any prophetic visions of the future when I headbutted you?”

“No,” Taylor said bluntly, too dazed to bother with semantics.

“Well, there’s the answer to your question.”

“I guess that sucks.”

“So disappointing I don’t get an apprentice myself. You had a decent one in ten chance to have your life changed. It’d be fun to make your mom jealous too.”

“Is that really the chances?”

“Maybe a one in twenty. Depends on the studies you read.”

“I take it that means hundreds of people bashed their heads against fortune tellers to see if they had an affinity to get that data?”

“Inhumane, I know.”

Kait shoveled snow, preparing the mansion’s garden for its regular maintenance. It was fairly grueling work, but it had to be done. She was used to working around gardens, shoveling dirt and snow, plating plants, mulching the dirt. It was all her thing.

Her friend definitely hadn’t been used to it, though. Too bad she was dead...

Kait let her shovel fall, then sighed tiredly. She sat on the snow-covered bench and stared into the light sky. Things really had changed so much...but she was still alive, doing things her way. That should have been enough to keep going, to press forth with new ideas and new dreams. If it wasn’t...

Kait thought for a moment, formulating a spell to make the job easier. She figured the typical flying spell would work, so she picked up her shovel and began waving it around, creating wind, before enchanting the shovel with a spell. From there, it did the work for her, flying and shoveling all the snow away as she’d intended.

Of course, Kait didn’t slack off on the job. She took a screwdriver(mistaking it for some kind of ice pick) and began breaking the koi pond’s Ice.

Her maintenance continued, with Kait taking her time, moving at a reasonable pace, not stressing herself too much. It was the type of work she liked, the type that she could invest herself in, doing satisfying work as she avoided the stresses of life for just a little bit of time.

Though, she eventually had to return.

Kait popped into existence, then shook off her dizziness and took note of her surroundings. Not that there was much to take note of anyway.

It was a white void, and Hailey was playing chess against a smaller, caped girl. Judging by Hailey’s irritated expression, she wasn’t winning. The other girl curiously observed Hailey.

Hailey greeted Kait with a groan, “Hello, Kait.”

“What’s going on?” She asked, sitting down between the two players.

“I’m getting dominated by this spirit, and it’s beginning to piss me off.”

Kait suddenly stood her guard, holding a hand defensively against her chest.

The spirit spoke in a monotone, deadpan voice. “Don’t be so alarmed. I’m with Kaetha.” Hailey made a move after much consideration, only for her opponent to instantly take an action to put her in a worse position.

Kait seemed calmed by the reassurance but was still curious. “What’s your domain?”

“I herald over logomancy.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Disappointing.” the spirit’s monotone never wavered.

Hailey made another move but was instantly beaten into a checkmate. She screamed in outrage, “Oh, come on! If you’re the spirit representing logic, how in the world do I beat you?!”

“Your problem, not mine.” The spirit deftly moved the pieces across the board, resetting it in a matter of seconds. “White or black.”

“White.”

“Then begin.”

Kait figured by Hailey’s resolve to win that it was her key to progressing but...it’d take a while. Kait laid back. Let the waiting game begin.