She was, as her first words indicated, looking rather disheveled, though even so she still had a certain air of elegance to her. She was also quite large—though of course not nearly as her brother, she wouldn’t need much growing at all before she’d be big enough that I’d be able to ride her.

I had a feeling that when it came down to it, actually getting her to let me wouldn’t be so simple...

“I, ah, it’s nice to meet you. Your brother said your name was Serayne?”

“It’s nice to be out and about myself—and to see you with my own eyes, Lheticus.”

Pointedly, Edwin and the researchers present were staying well out of our way. I only saw them out of the corners of my eyes, but I got the impression they were making notes. “So, uh, what’s next?”

“Now I shall join with you as your Familiar, of course.”

“Oh really,” I said, my voice deadpan. I did look around at the others then. They averted their eyes when I did. “And just what does this, ah, joining, entail?”

“Oh it’s quite simple really. Come closer and hold out your palm.”

I did so, but clearly I had no idea where she was going with this. “No no no, facing forward, not upward. Don’t be silly.”

I corrected, and she slowly approached even closer, until her closed beak gently pressed the palm of my hand.

[Serayne, the Feynfyr Phonixxan, has offered to become your Familiar. Do you accept?]

[Warning: Should you accept, because no binding spell was used, you will not be able to compel your Familiar to obey your commands. As with the normal process of binding a Familiar, the process is irreversible—you will not be able to bind a different Familiar later.]

“Oh, that’s all it was. I guess the Tower helps the process. Yes, I accept.”

A warm glow surrounded us for several seconds. When it faded, it was as though I saw Serayne in a different light. As though we belonged together, just like Mewi and I did.

Serayne spread her wings and bowed, her beak nearly touching the floor. “Our lives and hearts are now one, Guardian of Fire. When you feel joy, or hurt, or rage, or grief, so too shall I.”

Suddenly the idea that she would have refused to hatch for me, even if I had been acknowledged by the Sanctuary, if she thought I wasn’t compatible, didn’t seem so strange. “That’s what taking a Familiar is like? I doubt it’s a common thing to happen in the entire Tower.”

“It most certainly is not,” Serayne agreed, “taking on a Familiar is not something to undertake for just any challenger. My strength is also tied to yours. As you raise your Attributes, so too will mine increase, by a portion of what yours do.

Or, something like that. I’m not quite entirely sure exactly how it works. I don’t retain most of my memories from my last cycle. But I’m certain that in a general sense I get stronger as you do.

Anyway, the next thing we should take care of is to have someone craft a Summoning item. You’ll be able to call me to your side with it, and I’ll be able to project my voice through it from an extremely great distance. We’ll need a suitable part of me,” I blanched a bit as she said that, “fortunately, Phonixxan eggs are extremely durable and magical so a piece of that of a suitable size and shape should do,” I relaxed again, “set into a piece of jewlery. A ring, a pendant, or a bracelet, probably. A bracelet would probably be easiest.”

“Yeah, a bracelet should work, my equip slot there is open.” I gave Edwin a meaningful look.

“Of course, I’ll have it seen to at once. And if I may interject for just a moment, I wonder if I could prevail upon the, ah, young lady to ask if it is acceptable for us to take more intact pieces of her eggshell to study, and to perhaps see if anything else can be crafted from them?”

“Lheticus, just who is this creature if I may ask?”

I blew out a breath through my mouth. “That’s going to take a lot of explaining. For now, I think we should keep to the short version...”

I explained to her about the alliance team, Grosstin the faction in particular, and our mission to restore the majority of the Sanctuaries. I knew there were plenty of people in the room who, strictly speaking, weren’t supposed to be hearing some of it yet, but I hardly thought it possible to keep it secret much longer anyway.

“An entire team of prospective Guardians,” said Serayne, “that’s rather wonderful. And this man Edwin, he’s basically your backer.”

“Technically, he's my employer. It’s just that the sort of tasks he’d have me on got superseded by the Sanctuary crisis for the most part.”

“Well, the fragments of my egg will do much better in our hands,” she said, looking rather haughty, “I seriously doubt the means to use them as crafting material even exists in Area 1. I’ll need to assist directly to so much as make one into the Summoning bracelet. And even to do that, the Tower has to assist me in the process.”

I frowned at that. “Even so, there is quite a bit of material. And Edwin’s always done right by Mewi and I...surely we can spare a few small pieces? Who knows, they might be able to discover something studying them.”

Serayne looked around the room, her gaze staying on Edwin for quite a while. “Oh, very well, perhaps six or seven of the smaller fragments. Let’s take care of gathering it all up, then, I suppose.”

“And after that, I hope we can arrange for somewhere for you to stay for about a day or so.”

“Keh? Is there some reason I cannot simply remain by your side?”

“Um, well...”