The entire “living” area was different. Instead of individual “small hills” that were really dome-shaped buildings covered in grass, there was a single larger hillside. There was one relatively obvious entrance, a set of stone steps that led upwards to a stone door. It wasn’t exactly hidden, but it was situated where it would be in shadow for most of the day. Even though it was on the side closest to the nearest trail, it would be easy to overlook.

Serenity continued past the new door and around the corner, assuming that if Aki had changed his home, she would have checked with either Rissa or himself.

Probably Rissa.

There was a visible change once he rounded the corner; each of the small domes was now set into the larger hillside instead of separate. As far as keeping things secret went, it was an improvement. He’d have to remember to tell Aki he liked the change.

Serenity carried Rube towards the door that he guessed was Raz’s; Aki had said to bring the “itchy guy” to her, and she was surely still in Raz’s house. Rissa and Russ followed him in.

Not only was Aki still in Raz’s house, an entire room leading off the entrance was devoted to her. There were comfortable seats designed for both humans and people with tails and/or wings, plus plenty of cushions. Raz and Ita were both using some of the cushions - Ita sitting more or less upright but leaned against them as a rest with her hand reaching out to touch Aki and Raz sprawled across a pile of pillows a little farther away.

It wasn’t that different from how many stories showed a dragon lying on a pile of gold, only gold seemed awfully uncomfortable. Serenity agreed that the position was quite comfortable if you were on pillows, however.

Katya was lying on a couch with her back propped up by pillows against one of its armrests. Her long legs took up most of the seating area, though someone smaller than Serenity could have fit between her feet and the other armrest. Like Ita, she had a hand stretched out, touching Aki. It made sense; Raz, Rissa, and Serenity could talk to and work with Aki through other methods, but more people had to touch a dungeon core to interact with it. He’d heard that most dungeon-masters did; he suspected it depended on the Path they’d taken to get there.

Serenity picked out an area of open floor and laid Rube down carefully. The man was already in enough pain; he didn’t need to make it worse. “Any ideas?”

:Yes, actually. I keep track of people inside me; Rissa. You are ready to choose a new Path; you have been for quite some time. Why have you not?:

Rissa stared at the floor and flushed a little. “I - I didn’t like any of the options.”

Serenity blinked in surprise. He’d known which Paths Rissa had, but she hadn’t mentioned that she was ready to take another, much less that she didn’t like what it was. It was clear why Aki was asking, in that case; Rissa was a healer, even if all she had was a single healing Skill. “If you didn’t like any of them, that’s a good reason. Ah … when did you last check?”

He was a little bothered she hadn’t asked him for help; yes, they’d been busy, but there had certainly been time. He might or might not have been able to help, but at least he’d have known there was a problem.

Rissa stepped closer to Serenity and put a hand on his shoulder. Her voice cracked as she spoke. “Back when I finished my Path. You’re right, I should have asked, but you’d have asked why I didn’t like them, and … I don’t want to be a Prophet or a Seer or a Financial Analyst. Time’s Eye was bad enough but Visions of Calamity is - it’s just terrible. Teacher of the Mind was the only halfway decent one, but Jacob was the only person I wanted to teach, it’s not what I want to do. You said not to take those, so there just wasn’t anything. I know I’m falling behind, I just - I just don’t want to be those things.”

Serenity knew Time’s Eye was Rissa’s current Path; Prophet, Seer, Financial Analyst, Visions of Calamity, and Teacher of the Mind was five new Paths. Not bad at all, and he could guess when she’d finished her Path. It was probably while she was training Jacob.

Serenity turned to Rissa, then wrapped his arms around her, followed by his wings. “You’re not falling behind. Don’t be worried about that. You’re doing fine; it can take time. I have tons of options because the Voice is counting my previous experience; no one else has that. You just listed five options; that’s about normal when you’ve just finished your first Path in a Tier. Are they all Tier One?”

Rissa shook her head. Serenity couldn’t see it, but he felt the movement against his shoulder. “Visions of Calamity was Tier Two.”

Serenity chuckled and tightened his grip for a moment. “Yeah, I wouldn’t take that one either. It’s good news, really, you already have a Tier Two. The Voice thinks you’re ready to move up. It’s better-”

Rissa spoke at the same time as Serenity, using the same words, until he stopped and let her finish it for him. “To take another few Paths to set my Attributes up the way I want them as long as I can find compatible Tier One Paths, yes, I know.”

Serenity chuckled. “I guess I do say it a lot.”

“Yeah.” Rissa sounded happier after the chance to tease him.

Serenity moved his hands along her back, rubbing at her tight muscles. Just like his back, her wing muscles tended to cramp and ache late in the day. For him, it was the weight and the odd position; for her, it was from holding them still under clothing all day. Her wings were much smaller than his, after all. “That’s not what Aki means. She’s suggesting that you should have some more options. They change; sometimes the changes don’t make sense, like it’s something you should have had before. I’m pretty sure the Voice only lists some of your options each time, the ones it thinks you’re the closest to. Sometimes that changes; other times the world around you changes and that makes your options change.”

:Not the best explanation of Panzett’s Path Principle I’ve ever heard, but it’s serviceable. Yes, if it has truly been that long, you should check again.: Aki’s mind-voice sounded amused and exasperated at the same time.

Serenity had always thought the name sounded like it ought to be fake, but it wasn’t alliterative in Bridge. “The other thing to look for is-”

“Oh. Em. Gee. Why wasn’t that there the first time?” Rissa clearly hadn’t waited.

“You already took it didn’t you?” Serenity had started to ask her if there was anything that might give her a chance to heal Rube, but if she’d already taken the Path, it was too late.

“Um, yeah. Wasn’t I supposed to?”

Serenity shook his head slowly. “I was curious what else you had and whether there was a chance you could do something for Rube, but that’s a real long shot.”

“Oh.” Rissa buried her face in Serenity’s shoulder. “I should have looked. I didn’t think of it.”

Serenity forced a chuckle. He wasn’t upset with Rissa and he knew she’d feel that. It was a mistake, but it hadn’t been a high chance anyway. Even if she’d had something, it wouldn’t have been an immediate solution.

He should tell her that.

“If you did have a Path that would let you heal him, it’s unlikely it would be before the Level 75 Skill, and Level 100 is more likely. It was a long shot and not a quick solution anyway.” He hoped that was enough to make her feel a little less guilty.

“I still should have waited and checked … why 75 or 100? I know 10’s a utility, and 25’s attributes, so why not 50?” It seemed like it had helped, or at least made her curious. She probably hadn’t felt all that guilty; he could only guess at her feelings, after all, unlike the way she always knew his.

Serenity shrugged as he let Rissa go. She didn’t need the hug anymore, probably. She’d hang on to him if she did. “Fifty’s for combat Skills, almost always. They can be pretty esoteric on some Paths, but there’s always a combat use to them. A healing skill on level fifty will have a direct combat role, and reconstructive healing doesn’t seem particularly combat-oriented. So, ah, what did you get?”

Serenity wouldn’t have asked if they weren’t on a team together, but a team always had to have some idea what the others could do. How much detail depended on how much the team trusted each other, and Serenity trusted Aki, Raz, and Ita more than enough to share that sort of detail, and Russ was Rissa’s father; he was safe as well.

He probably shouldn’t have asked in front of Katya. He trusted her, mostly, but she had strong ties that weren’t to him; she’d likely place her family or the Rising Phoenix mercenaries, especially Hale, above Rissa. He was about to say something when Katya took it out of his hands.

“Wait a moment.” Katya pulled her hand away from Aki’s core, stood up, and stretched. “If we’re going to be talking Path specifics, I’ll go look over the latest listings Janice found - you did bring her, didn’t you?”

Janice and Katya shared an unholy fascination with home decor; when she wasn’t needed, Janice had started taking Katya to look at houses, even ones that weren’t at all suited to what she was looking for, just to see the insides. It all started when Katya wanted to look for a place for her family to live and work. Since she’d started looking in the wrong city, she hadn’t found a place yet, but she had found enough of a common interest that Serenity wished he’d at least asked her to wait until they were back in New York City.

Now that they were, it was only going to get worse.

“She’s out at the car,” Serenity admitted. “She said something about doing some more searches for gear in the area; I still need a replacement for my naginata and we haven’t found anything that isn’t ridiculously expensive for its quality. I’m not sure we will, I’m really too strong for almost anything at Tier One. I’m debating having something specially made for the purpose out of advanced materials, but that’s going to take some time. Janice is looking into that too, but it’s not easy to find.”

He was simply ridiculously strong for a Tier One world; even a good nonmagical weapon would break if he kept using it with his full strength. He didn’t even have to use it incorrectly. It was only going to get worse, too; he needed to place some attributes soon, since he’d completed his Core and his Path might finish up quickly if he did another few intricate spells. The only reason he’d held off was his mismatch with the world. It didn’t look like he could afford to wait much longer.

“Get something temporary, then finish closing the invasions. Then you can buy something from my uncle.” Katya winked, then sashayed out the door, overstating her movements.

“You’ve been watching movies with Janice again, haven’t you?” Serenity couldn’t imagine why else Katya was walking that way.

Katya chuckled, “Nah, it’s from one of the househunting shows, the female lead always does this.” She stopped at the door, leaned over, and wiggled the fingers on her right hand at Serenity. “See ya!”

After the door closed, Rissa stared at it and in an absolute monotone said, “I’ve seen that show. Can’t remember the lady’s name, but she’s really pretty obnoxious.”

Serenity nodded. “I think that’s the point.”

“Yeah.”