We arrived at the guest residence about fifteen minutes later. It was not a mansion but not quite a normal house compared to the human cities we had been to. Most of the streets within the walls were lined with buildings like it. A stone construction from what looked like a yellowish limestone, often painted with simple symbols I could quickly associate with the primal aspects and the first tiers. It was four stories tall, larger than what most dwarven cities built on a regular basis but next to the Cathedral the buildings still looked rather small.

Jane told us the aspect symbols replaced street names. There were six quadrants pertaining to the primal aspects and then the streets with another 16 different markings. All of it was living quarters with built-in workshops. Any shopping or entertainment happened in the markets or outside the walls. The Cathedral proper had most of the actual thaumaturgy done inside it but they still required a lot of mundane tools and necessities which the citizens made locally.

Our house was three streets out from the cathedral with two of them lined by mansions. Right around the ginormous building was a strip of open place covered in cobblestone and grass. It was nearly 200 metres wide as far as I could tell from this distance.

The windows were still wooden shutters but they were built much cleaner and decorated with simple carvings. The roof was slanted and had dark-grey tiles orderly forming a pattern like scales.

We stopped the wagon in front and started to unpack our things when someone came out of the front door to greet us. He was dressed like a butler and quickly confirmed his position with an introduction.

“Commander, welcome at the Ignis-Tempestas guest residence number four. I am Scrooge, head butler. Will all of you be staying here?”

“Thank you, Scrooge. I’m Commander Eternity of the Paladins. Yes, all of us will be staying here though I expect us to be out and about for much of the time.”

“Wonderful. The gate after the next house leads to our compound. You can leave the cart there and I will make sure the horses are taken care of.”

With a nod, she jumped back onto the coach seat and got the horses moving again. The rest of us stood somewhat lost in front of the main door.

“If you would follow me inside”, the butler said and held the door open for us.

Circe was first with me riding comfortably on Alex’s arm right after her. Hera and Cerberos followed behind, the [Hunter] keeping a little more distance.

The room was clearly some kind of entrance hall. It was only one storey tall but took up what had to be most of the ground floor. There were simple rugs and a few places to sit down, mostly couches and armchairs. A few doors led off into different directions and another servant stood ready at one side.

“That is my assistant, Don. Tell us if you need anything. Through the back is a workshop, the stairs are behind that door. The floor above has a kitchen and dining room as well as another workshop area. The third and fourth floors are living areas and bedrooms. Everything is ready for your use.”

Alex shifted a little.

“And how did you know we were coming?”

“We did not, Miss. We are always prepared to receive guests of the Cathedral.”

Jane took that moment to come in through the workshop.

“If you looked from outside you could see a little mark inside the front window. If that’s there, the house is free.”

“Ah.”

“I assume you are exhausted from your journey. When do you wish to eat?”

Jane glanced around before speaking up.

“I’d say in an hour. Fio, do you want them to make something?”

“Nah. I’ll go hunt.”

The assistant flinched but Scrooge simply nodded.

“Very well. I will call for you when it is time.”

“Thanks”, Alex said.

The rooms were simple but comfortable. While not a mansion, the guest house was still equipped with high-quality furniture. There were two large beds in every bedroom, sometimes standing next to each other, sometimes on opposite walls. Everyone had their own place although Hera and Alex decided to stay together and I would spend my nights in Circe’s room.

We reconvened for a simple but tasty dinner of potatoes and some meaty soup. Scrooge told us it was called goulash and everyone enjoyed it. Well, besides me. I had some fresh meat from my storage later on the roof.

The amenities were above average for human cities but still not dwarven level. The water had to be brought in from a well in the courtyard but the heating was done magically. I was wondering if the mansions had dwarven artefacts but there was no way to really find out.

Sometime in the evening, Catori returned from her self-imposed task.

“Man, this sucks. The stupid starling is just so… slow”, she said.

“You’re just spoiled by our superior Skills.”

“I know. Still, it’s gonna take another week at this rate. At least.”

“Make sure you don’t get it killed.”

“I know, I know. So, what’s going on here?”

“Decent place, I’d say? I think we have tomorrow to ourselves unless Cerberos wants us to come with him.”

“I don’t think that’ll happen. He’ll want to meet his master on his own, first.”

“Probably”, I said, “Anything you want to do?”

“Uhm… Other than look for a body for me? Not really…”

“Oh, I know. We can try to help Alex with seeing vis.”

“Fine by me…”

I shifted my attention fully inside our soul.

“You don’t want to?”, I asked.

“No… that’s not it.”

“Oh… You want to properly meet her.”

“Everyone.”

“Okay. We’ll… Wait, couldn’t you meet her if we pull her in with [Eldritch Shift]?”

That made her perk up. Slowly, a smile spread on her face.

“Let’s try… If Cerberos doesn’t want us to come with.”

With our plan settled, I decided to go to sleep and take control of the mouse body. I was mostly just going through the motions every night, still thinking about a way to use it better. In the middle of gnawing some roots, something suddenly grabbed me. I panicked, pain blossoming in my backside. What could reach me in my burrow? My vision started to grow dim but I managed to turn back and look at my attacker. It was a snake. And it was already starting to swallow me. Then, my consciousness waned.

I woke up the next morning with a start. Somehow, my body was still completely normal. But the memory from last night would not leave me.

“Fio… Fio!”

The voice reached my ears. It was inside my head.

“Fio! Hey!”

“I’m here”, I said, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, fuck off!”, Catori complained, “You died! I thought I had lost you!”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh. Seriously. I was so worried!”

I chuckled.

“Sorry, Catori. I… well, now we know.”

“Yes. Now, we know. Fuck that. Nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“You’re not even alive in here”, I smirked.

“You know what I mean!”, she snickered.

“Look, Circe is up.”

I met the eyes of my friend who weakly smiled and then let out a huge yawn. I followed suit, so did Catori.

“I need to rest a bit”, my other self said, “I’ll see you.”

“Good night”, I said.

“Good morning”, Circe greeted me at the same time.

I chuckled.

“Morning, Circe.”

The day proceeded as normal. Jane had left already when we had our breakfast. Cerberos ended up going to see his master alone. He told us we could come along the next day if we wanted. In the end, we decided to practice our Skills, primarily Alex’s perception of vis. Circe was listening in and trying to get a feel for it as well but she was clearly out of her depth.

“I don’t know, Fio. Maybe I’m just not made to sense vis?”, Alex said.

“You literally run off vis. Of course, you can sense it.”

“I can sense that it’s not there. Or… no. I can sense nothing where it is. It’s just…”

“Keep your eyes closed”, I said, “You’re peeking again.”

Alex groaned.

“Now, again. I’m extending my shadows around you. Poke the orbs at the end of the tendrils.”

I was making threads of darkness as thin as I could, smaller than half a centimetre. And at their ends were orbs five centimetres across. Alex had serious trouble finding the tendrils and if she moved through them the orbs would dissipate. I had a few placed in easy reach, others in places where she would have to carefully bend her arm to avoid severing the tendril. Slowly, she raised her hands and got to work. I turned to Circe.

“Do you feel anything?”, I asked.

A single orb was hovering right in front of her face. Her eyes were closed as well.

“… to my left?”, she tried.

“Nope.”

Another groan.

I moved the orb slowly around her head. She did not react.

“Try again. Or don’t. You don’t have to. It’s going to be very difficult for you.”

She nodded, her lips pressed together.

I returned my focus to Alex. She had popped the first five orbs and was now carefully focusing on the remaining three. A hand reached up to the back of her head and formed an arch. The previous time I had laid the tendril around the bottom. This time, she snapped it from above.

I shook my head.

“Don’t guess”, I admonished, “It’s fine if you don’t see the tendril but try.”

“I am trying!”, she snarled.

Her hands rushed to the other two orbs, right through the tendrils and touched them before they dissipated. She opened her eyes and glared at me.

“There! I did it!”

“Well done”, I commented dryly.

She dropped onto her back.

“I need a break.”

“Fine by me. You want to keep trying, Circe?”

The girl scrunched her face for a moment before shaking her head.

“This is impossible.”

“It’s not. It’s just hard for you. Maybe one of your [Witch] Skills will help you. Or getting a familiar.”

“Then let’s just bond!”, she complained as she fell onto her back as well.

Catori chuckled in my head.

“As much as I like her, I don’t really want that…”, my other self said.

“I will not”, I said out loud, “It would hurt you.”

“Blegh.”

She turned away.

“Anyone want something to drink?”, I asked.

Affirmative noises came from my friends. I made my way to the kitchen to brew some tea. Don was sitting off to the side preparing lunch. He stared at me fearfully.

“Don’t mind me. I’ll just make some tea.”

He nodded and returned to his work. While I prepared the hot water, a bowl for myself and two cups, he kept glancing at me. I ignored him. Whenever some of my darkness shifted to move an object, he flinched. I made sure to quickly finish and leave him be.

“Here you go, guys”, I said as I returned to the living room.

“Thanks”, they sat up in unison.

“So, how do we proceed?”, Alex asked, “I’m not sure it’s working.”

“It’s going to take some time”, I said, “No matter what. I have another option, though. But it’ll only work for you.”

“What is it?”

“[Eldritch Shift]. And holding you over there. It’s all vis. And a bit of flux.”

She blinked.

“That might work. Huh.”

“Why can’t I come?”, Circe asked.

“You’d probably go insane from the warp”, Alex answered.

“But you won’t?”

“I’m as far over the line as Fio. You’re just… a few steps in.”

The girl pouted.

“Shock therapy might work”, Catori said in my head, “That’s what Truth said, at least.”

“Really?”, I asked her.

“Truthfully”, she giggled, “But seriously, he said she’s pretty strong. But…”

“We’d lose our main excuse for not bonding with her.”

“Yup.”

I focused back on reality.

“Maybe one day. For now, we’ll see if it even helps Alex.”

She gave me a soft smile.