Episode 3

A pile of heavy leather-bound books slaps down upon the dining table, and a wooden echo sharply bounces off the living area's walls, diminishing into the softer couches and area rug. Brushing off her hands dismissively, Aristespha angles a hard stare at Bach and watches expectantly. Freshly rattled from his early morning haze, Bach hoists up a confused eyebrow at the literature before him and glances up at Aristespha from his seat. With a swift pivot, Aristespha walks in rigid properness to an opposing chair at the dining table. Presenting a cool confidence, she settles into her seat, stiffens her posture, and locks her violet eyes with Bach. Bach backs further into his chair and averts his blue eyes in momentary side glances, avoiding the pressing glare. Aristespha draws in a long breath, folds her ivory hands on the tabletop, and dons a faint frown on her blue and gray hinted face. "I am a Master Sage of The Grand Library, caretaker and researcher of the Sword of the Spirit Realm, and specialist in magics dealing with the mind, body, and spirits. I serve as the doctor, historian, and the spirit expert for this team. None of which I expect you to learn, as those roles take significant knowledge, experience, and discipline. Any questions?"

Bach searches his mind for some inquiry, pauses in thought, and narrows a puzzled gaze, a vague wince edging close towards insulted. A few tense seconds of quiet pass. Bach points at the books on the tabletop and furrows his brow. "So... What are these for?"

Aristespha lifts the front cover of the book resting at the top of the stack, revealing the title page, and rotates the book to face Bach. "These are books that will provide basic knowledge of first aid, psionic magics, and spirits. I expect you to read them as soon as possible."

Cocking his head, Bach flips through a few pages and blinks at the material. He returns his incredulous gaze back to Aristespha. "Is there going to be a test or something? I mean, you just said I wasn't supposed to learn all this? So, what do you want me to do?"

Focusing a stern, examining stare at Bach, Aristespha cools her violet eyes and tempers her frown, subtle hints of irritation slipping through. Bach gives the stack of books a more concerned inspection between glimpses of the changing expression upon Aristespha ivory face. Tossing her lengthy silvery blue hair over very long, pointed ears, Aristespha groans into a calming sigh with a slight shake of her head. "No. There will NOT be a test. But, if you want to be a productive member of this team, I expect you to retain some of this knowledge. Knowing even a cursory amount could mean the difference between life and death."

Mixing understanding and wariness into a nod, Bach carefully closes the top book and neatly rearranges the stack. He ponders a moment and summons up honest sincerity. "Okay. I'll get right on it and all. It definitely sounds very important, and I think I can see why. And, well, I'll do what I can."

He tilts his head to the side and angles his gauging gaze upon the pile, curling the corner of his mouth during the inspection. "Uh, I can start reading these... Right now... If you want me to?"

Bach watches minute changes in Aristespha's face and shifts in her body posture. Aristespha's visible mood lightens with an exhale, her shoulders easing subtly and very long ears twitching slightly. Bach blinks through a wave of confusion, his blue eyes glancing around uncomfortably, and settles close against the back of the chair. Aristespha slides over an electronic tablet from nearby on the table in front of her and taps upon the screen a few times. She presses a side button, a faint plastic click sounding off, and sweeps up a released pen stylus into her hand. "Read them, and retain the knowledge you can. That is all I can ask given current circumstances. I do want you to be properly prepared as we have encountered quite a variety of predicaments in our adventures. Hence, I thought it would be prudent to arm you with what knowledge I can offer."

Straightening her posture, she perks an eyebrow at Bach and levels an scrutinizing stare. "On to the next order of business... I have already filled out the information that I know of. But, I will need to ask you questions of a medical nature. Not only is it considered standard practice with adventuring groups, but we have directly experienced that keeping medical histories when we travel is VITAL. We never quite know what clinics, hospitals, or facilities will be around, and they may or may not be able to connect to any regional medical records systems on our behalf."

Bach nods in agreement and sits up in his seat, respectably at the ready. "THAT actually makes a lot of sense. Hadn't thought about that. So, um... I guess ask away?"

An ethereal voice beside Bach mockingly questions him. "When was your last sexual encounter?"

An audible slip of breath squeezes out of Bach, and he winces reflexively in shock. Blinking bewildered, flushed in the face, Bach's mental processes resume from the abrupt halt into a defensive body tensing, and he snaps his head towards the source of the familiar voice. Sebastian's ghostly face hovers, a prying grin widening. "So, bro? When was it?"

Realizing the originator of the question, Bach rolls his dismissive gaze away into outright irritation. "Fuck off, asshole."

Drifting his ethereal form down into the chair next to Bach, Sebastian boldly smirks his amusement. "Morning to you, too! SO..."

He leans closer and smiles, curling the edges sharply. "When was it?"

Bach sours a grimace, defensively crosses his arms, and defiantly glares at Sebastian. The brothers stare at each other, and the silence weighs down upon the area. Sebastian rolls his eyes, exaggerating the throw his head away from Bach. "Oh! So a Not Applicable, still? Why am I NOT surprised?"

Remaining silent and stern, Bach stares coolly at his brother, flits of irritation creeping out upon his light tan face. Sebastian's translucent form shrugs nonchalantly and shakes his head dismissively. "Oh, lighten up, bro! It'll happen for you. You don't have to be so uptight about it. I mean, bro, I'll help you out-"

Sebastian notices the devious smirk forming upon Bach's face, Sebastian's own sly smile waning against the visible shift. Bach slowly turns his head and faces Aristespha, the smirk growing into a full grin upon his face. "Has he ever told you the one time I was working at the bowling alley when he stumbles in, either drunk or high..."

Bach briefly glances towards Sebastian in thought and resumes. "Maybe both? AND, he has each arm around an emin woman-"

Within Sebastian's panicked flurry, ethereal hands desperately phase through and fail to cover Bach's mouth. Pausing the story a moment, Bach smirks smugly at his brother and watches the struggle. Sebastian halts his flailing arms and simmers his anger and embarrassment, leaning close to his brother. "BRO. Shut. Up! Brother to brother confidentiality..."

Bach twists his upper body around with an arm upon the back of the chair and studies Sebastian's transparent form glowing light red, curling fingers in frustration. Flicking up two middle fingers up at Sebastian, Bach cackles, waving his digits. "Whacha gonna do ghost boy!? Threaten to haunt me?! Too fuckin' late! We're already right there! What else you got up those transparent sleeves of yours-"

A stern and cold voice resonates throughout the large room. "AHEM. MAY I continue?"

Sebastian immediately transforms back into his normal translucent, faintly blue tinted form, and snaps his attention back towards Aristespha. Slowly putting his hands down, Bach settles back into his seat at the table and meets Aristespha's stare. Pulling in a long, calculated breath, Aristespha addresses Sebastian sternly, furrowing her brow and concentrating her violet eyes through him with a prior coolness. "SEBASTIAN. I am attempting to get vital work done. You will have plenty of time to harass your brother AFTER I am done with these important procedures. I will only have this room to myself and Bach for another hour before everyone arrives back from chores and practice. If you could excuse yourself for some time and attend to something else..."

Bowing her head slightly, she beams her request through Sebastian. "I would greatly appreciate it."

Catching the cue, Sebastian hovers up respectfully out of his seat and floats towards the sliding glass door. "Okay. Sorry, dear. I'll go check outside for a bit."

Stopping short of phasing through the sliding glass door, Sebastian glances back towards the dining table. Aristespha meets his ghostly blue eyes. She slyly smiles at him and concentrates quietly with her hand on the sword leaning against a nearby chair. Sebastian pauses in thought, searches in his mind between flicks of his eyes, and contorts his face with a bits confusion. With a lift of an neat eyebrow and a gleam in her violet eyes, Aristespha grins subtly. A faint blush colors Sebastian's ethereal face, and he contentedly smiles, coasting through to outside world.

Bach waits patiently for Aristespha and idles quietly, drifting his attention between the pile of books on the tabletop, bar window leading into the kitchen prep area, and the house's large front window across the way. Sighing out the remnants of irritation and frustration, Aristespha taps the pen stylus on the tablet and gazes at Bach with a professional smile. "My apologies... Let us start. First question. Any known allergies?"

---

Aristespha finishes writing a few last notes on the tablet, tapping her stylus on different menu options. "Thank you for answering my questions."

Bach sits back in his chair, wrestling apprehension on his face, and furrows his brow. "Well, that wasn't too bad. So, uh, is there anything else you need me to do?"

Placing the tablet off to the side, Aristespha motions towards the tabletop in front of Bach with a wave. "If you could, please, hold your arm out across the table."

Taking a few awkward glances around, Bach unfurls his arm out over the spot indicated and opens his hand palm up. Aristespha reaches out, and holds underneath Bach's hand and underside his forearm. She briefly drops her head down and lifts back up with her eyes glowing brightly violet. Focusing upon Bach's palm, she calmly instructs. "I would like to examine your magical ability and flow control. I am going to carefully observe as you cast some basic spells. Start with any simple light spell."

Uncertainly eyeing his arm within the firm grip of Aristespha, Bach flexes his fingers and pushes back his hesitation, drawing a deep breath. "Okay. Uh, just curious... What are you trying to see or find out?"

Aristespha briefly lifts up on Bach's arm and punctuates her serious tone through a collected stare. "I am trying to make sure that how you are presently casting spells will not lead to serious injury, permanent damage, or other more immediate side-effects."

Morbid curiosity nudges against Bach, and he grimaces with an uncertain cock of his head. "Uh. Immediate side-effects? Like what kind of side-effects, exactly?"

The faint curl of a smirk emerges from the corner of Aristespha's mouth, her tone remaining calm and professional. "There are quite a few possibilities. The more notable being rupturing of organs, self-immolation, and in some notably rare cases... Detonation. External. And internal."

With an unsettled wince, Bach blinks blankly, a nervous chuckle slipping free. He stares distantly inwards, facial twitches leading into uncomfortable twinges, and his blue eyes dart between mental imagery. Shuddering back to the present, he dons an awkward smile and nods understandingly. Aristespha's gaze shifts up and narrows with a commanding tint. "Now. Cast a light spell."

With brief, reflexive wiggles of his fingers, faint flows of prismatic energy rise up from Bach's palm. A small blue-white orb materializes within the condensing haze and hovers above Bach's open hand, casting a bright light across the tabletop and upon the nearby walls and ceiling. Aristespha stares at the glowing object and briefly closes her eyes with distinctly uncertain body language radiating through her. She tips her head back, tilting it to the side, and trains her glowing violet eyes on the small, few centimeter wide orb of light. Her stern, stoic demeanor cracks around the edges, and genuine confusion colors her ivory face. "Um. Please release that. And... Do it again."

Fighting an uneasy squirm in his seat, Bach searches for an answer with glances towards the glowing sphere. "Ah... Um... Okay. Sure."

He reaches out with his free hand and plucks the light orb up with his fingers. The points of contact shimmer and reveal the traces of a dodecahedron energy framework. Searching nearby, Bach deposits the illumination off to the side on the tabletop. The magical object remains hovering in place. Aristespha quirks her brow incredulously and focuses her confusion upon Bach. "I thought I said to release it? Did you hear me correctly?"

A wave of worry tenses up Bach, he meets the examining stare of Aristespha, awkward chuckle escaping. "Well, I... Um... Well, I... Can't. I made that one independent. It'll go out on its own in about... Ah, maybe 30 minutes or so?"

Aristespha's very long, pointed ear twitches, and she removes her hands from Bach's forearm. Snatching up the glowing orb from the tabletop, she brings it in front of her face, the blue-white light beaming upon her ivory skin. She studies it closely, squinting her investigative stare. She spins and rotates it around with her fingers, pausing at different angles for further scrutiny. The violet glow in her eyes brightens, and she bores her stare through it. "There is a hover enchantment, surrounded by an energy containment field, wrapped in a light conversion matrix, and all within a... Structure of some design..."

Bach sheepishly interrupts, nervousness driving his words. "Well, it's, uh, a stabilized lattice, with a static charge so it can stick to things."

Maintaining the same intense violet glow from her eyes, Aristespha's attention drifts away from the light orb and towards Bach. Averting his gaze from the directed eye contact, Bach stiffens his posture in the dining chair and sheepishly explains. "You can throw it, and it'll hover along that path until it hits something. Then, it'll cling to, uh, whatever surface until the stored energy is used up."

Aristespha blinks slowly and puzzles at the magical object in her fingers. Her studious grimace drifts towards disbelief, and sparks of confusion fight for facial realty. Battling unease and nerves against the looming silence, Bach scratches the back of his head of brown hair and laughs softly with a stammer. "I-I-I... I created it when I couldn't pay the power bill one month. I mean, ah, I just got REALLY tired of wandering in the dark at night. So, I crafted this spell, since... I had..."

He grits his teeth and hisses out stale embarrassment. "Well... Nothing better to do. It gets a little boring at night, sitting in the dark."

A sigh escapes Bach, and he stiffens a frown, tone trailing off. "Especially with nothing but your own thoughts..."

Aristespha calmly places the light orb down in front of her and props her arms by their elbows upon the tabletop. The palms of hands meet, and she rests her chin at the peak. Closing her eyes, many seconds pass. Aristespha reopens her eyes and trains a studious stare upon Bach. "We will need to do different testing, given this new information."

Bach nervously crosses his arms and leans against the back of his chair. "Okay. Don't know how to take that. Like, at all."

---

Bach stands several meters away from Sotalia, Aristespha, and Sebastian in the backyard, just beyond the brick patio, and glances around at the training equipment off to the sides. Sotalia adjusts her training gear on her body, straightening her posture, and listens to Aristespha speaking close to her pointed ear. Bach's head bounces between Sotalia and Aristespha, furrowing his brow in growing suspicion, and settles upon Sebastian's ethereal visage hovering between the two. Sebastian spots his brother's attention and simply shrugs with awkward side glances between Aristespha and Sotalia. Aristespha and Sotalia discuss between themselves for a minute. Aristespha calls out to Bach and rests her hands upon her hips. "For this specific exercise, I will need you to dispel the magic bolts we cast at you. Sotalia will cast small training bolts that I am certain you are familiar with. I will cast larger training bolts, when I deem appropriate. We will start out slow and speed up to your limit."

Assuming a defensive stance, Bach raises his hands out at the ready and rolls his shoulders. "Okay. Uh, just so you know, it's been a while. I know they're training bolts and all..."

Sotalia playfully grins, stretches during her prance into position, and juggles the faint yellow glow between her long-nailed fingers. "OH. Don't worry! I'll hold your hand like a good little girl. I'll be nice..."

An eager sparks lights up her golden eyes. "I promise."

Bach shakes his head and squints his blue eyes with a faint cringe. With a few flicks of her wrists, Sotalia casts the first barrage of slow moving glowing orbs. The multi-color orbs coast roughly a meter a second in loose pairs at a time. Sotalia pauses between waves of prismatic energy flow and lines up her aim. Bach moves his hands and body and intercepts the bolts, translucent energy forming within his palms. His hand nears a bolt. A pulse of power pops and contacts the bolt. The bolt breaks down nearly immediately, a faint puff of energized mist drifting away with the breeze. Sotalia's eyes studiously track the speed that Bach counters and adapts her casting, bolt speeds maintaining the gradual rise in challenge. Off the side, Aristespha observes with her violet eyes radiantly glowing.

Within the minutes, the pace between Bach and Sotalia ramps up to a feverish rate. Against the demands of skill and focus, the two trade banter constantly. Sebastian excitedly watches the duo and floats up for a better view. Sotalia whips a few bolts into banking trick shots and yells at Bach with a bold grin. "Oh my! Where's all THIS bravado coming from? Looks like someone's pride needs to be put into check."

Bach dispels the wild orbs and cracks a smile in return, wiping some of the sweat from his head. "You know, that's actually really funny coming from YOU. Don't think the irony is lost on me!"

Watching Sotalia lift an amused eyebrow with a subsequent flurry of magical projectiles, Aristespha raises her violet eyes up at the floating ethereal ghost. "Sebastian. How close is Bach to performing as he did in school?"

Sebastian glances down at Aristespha and furrows his brow, old memories twitching edges of his eyebrows. "Well, I've seen him do faster, dear. But..."

He squints a moment and studies the rate of exchange between Sotalia and Bach. "Not by that much more. This is just above his average when it comes to this basic training bolt stuff."

Aristespha quickly swirls her arms, flexes hands in regimented, purposeful gestures, and flicks out a large, potent bolt towards Bach. "Good. Time to start the actual assessment."

The large magical projectile blazes across the yard and flies towards the other bolts. Zipping through the volley, the fast moving orb startles Sotalia, weaving into her stream of magic darts. Bach spots the large bolt homing in onto his center mass. Surprise flashing upon Bach's light tan face, he reflexively whips his hand out for the interception. The bolt crashes into the pulse of energy from Bach's palm and briefly pauses mid-flight. Another larger emission of prismatic flow breaks down the orb into a fine miasma. Taking advantage of the break from Sotalia's recovery, Bach adjusts his stance and readies for the next onslaught, rolling of the shoulders between pants. "Okay! Yeah. I think I still got it here. Yeah..."

He shudders his head and refocuses ahead. "I think. I mean, I know these are training bolts and all."

Aristespha and Sotalia release their waves of magic Bach, and Bach balances his attention between the intermittent large orbs and the smaller bolt barrages. His burgeoning confidence wanes, the larger bolts launching more often. With a stern and calculating stare, Aristespha throws out two large bolts. Bach's glowing blue eyes widen, and he grits his teeth, an uncertain hiss escaping. He flings his arms forward, intercepting the two bolts. Countering blasts of energy erupt from each of his palms more violently than before and immediately disrupt the large bolts. Bach draws in enough breath between pants and uneasily chuckles. "OKAY. I think I'm at my limit. Anything past this, I don't got. So, we can stop now. Please?"

Sotalia halts her casting and waves the remaining residual magic flow off her hand. She pulls stray locks of dark red, straight hair over her swept back black horns and glances over at Aristespha. "Girl, I think that should be good. To be honest, I'm actually getting a little tired. We've been casting a lot for a while."

She lifts a humored eyebrow at Bach and smirks slyly. "I think the boy can handle basic baby mage, first year exercises."

Bach cocks his head and blinks, curling an incredulous sneer. "Basic baby mage? Oh, come on! That's at least what you'd expect from a decent second year student."

Sotalia snorts into a chuckle and waves her hand dismissively. "Second year at High Alton, maybe. But Diana U had higher expectations when I went."

Glancing off to the side, Bach snorts with a playfully derisive hint. "Diana U? That figures."

Sotalia hoists up an eyebrow and stares competitively at Bach. Narrowing her brilliant violet eyes at Bach, Aristespha furrows her brow and cocks her head of long silvery blue hair. "One more test..."

She deftly gestures, chants fast incantations, and heaves both arms towards Bach. Three large orbs simultaneously rocket out in a chaotic spiral. Too quick for shock to manifest on his light tan face, Bach reflexively flings his hands out at two of the bolts and snatches them, yanking them back. Sparking and warping in Bach's grip, the bolts waver against forces and disappear. Faint trails of magical essence sink into Bach's body. Both of Bach's hands slap together upon the third bolt directly in front of him. In the moments of warping power, it puffs away into another fading cloud of miasma, trails slipping into Bach's arms. Bach shakes off his hands out, panting heavily, and eyes Aristespha suspiciously with an uneasy curl in his frown. "WOW... Uh, YEAH... Could you WARN ME next time!"

He rest his hands on his knees and huffs loudly. "I'm actually pretty tired, and I haven't dispelled that much in a LONG time. Really not ready for that much, right now."

Sebastian zips right in front of Bach and grins proudly. "Holy shit, bro! That was awesome! Oh man, that took me back to training back at school. We'll have you back in fighting shape in no time if you keep it up like that!"

Bach hangs his head down with a smile, his brother hovering around him. Sebastian tries to pat him on the back, retracting his ghostly hand when it starts to pass through. Lifting his head up, Bach chuckles at the praise and encouragement from his brother and smirks at the attention. Sotalia and Aristespha gawk in shock, jaws agape. The violet glow fades in Aristespha's eyes, and her attention shifts towards other thoughts in her mind. Sotalia blinks blankly, slowly turns, and faces Aristespha with a narrowing stare. "That was..."

She pauses a moment and points towards Bach with a circling finger. "Was that... A complete spell decompilation he did right there?"

Genuine bewilderment overtakes Aristespha, and she furrows her brow in disbelief. She gradually puts together a cohesive thought to voice. "Yes. Three of them. In under two seconds."

Sotalia sidesteps close, pivots in front of Aristespha, and gazes quizzically at her. "What... What were you actually trying to test?"

She waves her hand roughly in the space between her and Bach. "Was it this? Because that's a really rough test to throw at someone who hasn't been in the game in a while. He did just fine, like I'd expect from someone with some proper training-"

Aristespha's very long, pointed ears twitch, and she arrives back to her senses. Shaking her head at Sotalia, she dismissively waves off the idea and frowns with a confused tinge. "N-no! I was trying to flush something out to the surface."

Sotalia leans closer and lowers her tone to a whisper. "Like what? This was obviously a surprise to you, too, so what were we hoping to find out?"

Aristespha draws a thoughtful breath in, her violet eyes searching her mind for a proper explanation. "There is a strange feel, as best as I can explain it, to how he flows magical energy. I do not quite know much more, at the moment. My hope was that putting a little stress on him would reveal more. Well, specifically, more about his flow control.

She narrows her stare and glances off to the side of her head. "THIS was unexpected. Not an unheard of feat, mind you. But, that he has significantly developed such skill is... ODD."

Sotalia crosses her arms, straightening her posture, and glances back at Bach and Sebastian talking. She raps her fingers on her light tan and dark gray patterned arm, watching curiously. She returns her facing to Aristespha and perks her brow with intrigue, curiosity blatant on her face. "NOW, I wonder what spells he's developed. I figured out he's direct casting already. He HAS to have a few that use how he's flowing power specifically."

She leans closer to Aristespha and curls an eager grin. "THAT might reveal a lot more than just testing for things we don't know TO..."

Furrowing her brow, she rests her hands on hips. "Or, even HOW to test for?"

A proper and collected facade reforms upon Aristespha. A sly smile sneaks out for a moment, and she settles her attention upon Sebastian. "Sebastian? You once told me about a particular spell of Bach's that you liked? What was it?"

Summoning up a graceful dignity, Aristespha strides over next to Sebastian's visage and beams a loving smile at him. Sebastian meets Aristespha's gaze and pauses from playfully hassling his brother. Thinking for a moment, he glances over at Bach with an excited grin. "Bro! Can you do the D-Ball, right now? Oh, please tell me you can pull that one off!"

Staring momentarily with widened eyes, Bach drops his head with a sad, embarrassed sigh and rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. He lifts his head back up shaking and visibly swallows a bit of pride. "Sorry. Uh, yeah. No can do, man. I'm really out of practice with casting anything anywhere near that powerful. That's going to take me some serious time to get back to casting THAT, if that's even possible..."

He halts, and his eyes light up. Bach smiles with a spark of hope and holds his hands out to Sebastian. "WAIT. I got enough left in me for a Plasma Bolt. That's one I can do. It takes whole A LOT longer than it ever did before, but I can make it work!"

Sebastian ethereal form drifts next to Aristespha. Sotalia joins them, and Sebastian points at Bach. "Dear, this one is pretty cool. We used this one to get through a whole section of the fourth year team assessment tests."

Bach scans the vicinity and finds a thick steel plate hanging in a frame, off in the side yard with the rest of the target practice setup. He plants his feet, extends his arm out, and holds his hand up. Remaining still, he silently concentrates. Air swirls into a point above his palm and condenses to a mist, a faint glow forming around the growing haze. In the seconds of tensing himself still, the white streak in Bach's hair rises up with the charging of the atmosphere around him. With a loud, low thump, his brown hair drops back down. The air gradually chills within the haze above his hand, faint specs of glinting frost swirling in the currents. The compressed mist ignites above his palm. A low hum emerges from the background noise, and the contained haze glows red. The mist glows brighter in the passing moments, and the color shifts to white, the noisy pitch rising. Seconds pass on by, and the orb glows a bright, brilliant blue, whining inaudibly. Bach cautiously orbits his hand behind the orb and guides the magical energies with a careful aim. Bracing his hand with the other, Bach stabilizes the energy ball, and it swiftly spins up in place. The newly formed plasma bolt streaks across the yard, a loud crack and boom sounding out. The energy orb bores into the steel plate. A mix of vaporized steel and plasma explodes from the front and erupts out the back. The remaining mass of the bolt bounces off the ground a few times and dissipates in an expulsion of leftover gasses.

Bach stumbles back a few steps and tips himself forward. Regaining his balance, he rests his hands on his knees and grimaces, gasping through his clenched teeth. He straightens back up with a hint of a waver, shakes his hand vigorously, and growls out. "OW! The damned thing launched too fast! SHIT!"

He presses his hand close to his belly and covers it with his free hand. "Gods dammit! It broke the sound barrier next to my hand. Damn, that shit stings!"

Checking his hand, he flexes his fingers together and one at a time. "Gods, I can't feel my fingertips..."

Sebastian glides eagerly to Bach and laughs, grinning. "Damn. Some things just don't change. I thought you'd figure out how NOT to do that by now."

Rolling his blue eyes, Bach winces, massaging up his fingers. "Fuck you. It's not that easy, man. Release it too slow and you burn your fingers from the heat when the containment bubble drops. Better to just send it as fast as possible and hope for the best. And having to stream the power slower doesn't help, like, at all."

Aristespha and Sotalia watch with genuine intrigue, donning impressed stares. Sotalia rests her chin upon her propped up hand and glances at Aristespha with a sly grin. "I think he can do a simple mission with us. I mean, he's not completely helpless. There's some potential here."

Aristespha nods slowly and crosses her arms, a thought twisting her mouth. "We will need to check with the local guild office. There should be a few quests in the area that should work for our needs. We also need to stock up on some supplies. It has been too long since we have really taken inventory and replenished."

Sotalia puts her hands on her hips and perks her eyebrow. "Cideeda mentioned seeing a few good places we could check out when she was driving through town. I think a group trip into town this weekend would be perfect."

---

Laying upon the bed in the small bedroom, Bach finishes a leftover piece of bacon from breakfast. He flips over to a new page in the First Aid handbook, securing the other fluttering pages from the overhead ceiling fan current. His blue eyes wander down the page, drag upon long segments of biology, and backtrack, halting on medical terminology. Creasing his brow, Bach mulls over the concepts between blank stares at the dense literature and peels back the previous page, hopefully hunting for context. Sebastian passes his ghostly upper body through the window above Bach and gazes down with an incredulous lift of his eyebrow. "Bro. It's a nice day outside. What are you doing in here, STILL? There's, like, stuff and things you can do out there."

Resting the book open on his chest, Bach tilts his head back and glances up towards his brother. "After all the crash course training this week... I'm really enjoying not doing anything, right now. And, I'm still kind of sore in spots. Spots I didn't know I had, man."

Fending off a wince, Bach motions his hand down parallel to a leg. "Like, there's muscles along here that ache, and I still don't know what I did specifically to make them mad."

Sebastian pulls the rest of his ethereal visage through the window and coasts down, resting next to Bach on the bed. "So, what are you reading, anyway?"

Bach flips the book up and turns it to the cover towards Sebastian. "I mean, not a bad read, so far. Pretty dry. But, it's not like I was expecting a psychological thriller or something."

Recognizing the book, Sebastian wanders gaze back up to the ceiling and wrestles a smirk on his face. "I mean, yeah, it's not bad as far as text books go. That's one of the few books Aristespha made me read that I actually liked. Pretty useful stuff to know."

Bach quirks his brow, pausing in thought, and slides his eyes into an inquisitive stare at Sebastian. "So... I guess you and Aristespha are pretty serious? Just from my observations so far."

Contorting his face into an uneasy grimace, Sebastian groans out a wavering sigh. "It's... Complicated."

Rolling his eyes away from his brother, Bach flops the book back down. "Good fucking gods. Really? Why is that ALWAYS the case for you?"

Bach rocks his head side to side on the pillow, a mocking tone slipping out. "It's complicated. Like. HOW? This time?"

Sebastian throws his arms up in the air and narrows an indignant glare at Bach. "YES. It is! Bro, here's the breakdown. Aristespha is the fifth child in a moderately powerful Evuukian House."

Bach interjects, positing. "So, like, powerful enough to control some industry or a bunch of land, but not that many votes on the whole Council thing?"

Sebastian nods in agreement and squints his side glancing eyes. "Yeah. Pretty much. I think her family gets, like, five or something votes instead of the default one all the minor ones get. But that's, like, half of what the major houses get on average."

Crossing arms, he leans close to Bach and explains quietly. "So, anyway... She's the fifth child. Which traditionally means all her older brothers and sisters have taken all the cushy positions in the family affairs and drained the coffers of any easy money for upper tier school tuition or even investment capital. So, with no ruling prospects and no easy money, she goes to a discount adventuring school."

A thought jumps across Bach's mind, and he narrows an uncertain glance at his brother. "Wait, she didn't happen to go to our-"

Sebastian waves off the statement and chuckles lightly. "Nah, bro. Not THAT discounted."

Bach furrows his brow and sighs. "You'd never guess that from the tuition."

Tensing a fiscal pain down his shoulders, Sebastian points at Bach. "She DID go to one of the sister schools in some Evuukian lands. Completely aced everything as medical mage, and she got a fellowship to The Grand Library. Enjoying it all. Understandably a little sad that the family doesn't give shit about her accomplishments."

He shrugs and smirks. "But, hey, no political bullshit to deal with. Not the worst deal."

Bach nods and sighs with a grimace. "Yeah, I mean, if there's going to be any benefit, that's not a bad one. Still, that's crazy about her family. Medical mage programs are pretty brutal, and The Grand Library just doesn't hand out fellowships... I mean, usually people have to donate more than what the fellowship pays to get those."

Shaking his head, Sebastian furrows his brow and snorts. "Shit, I know! You know, mom and dad would be thrilled to death if we managed to be janitors at The Grand Library. So, yeah... She gets in. She's studying ancient history for old medical spells, and just has the TV on for background noise."

He waves his hand out with his explanation. "One of those goofy ghost hunting shows had a marathon running. You know, one of the ones where they chase around the visuals of old leftover spells or broken illusions from decaying enchantments."

Bach snorts, curling a wry smirk. "Oh yeah... Believe me, they pack those in the EARLY morning slots on a few channels."

Sebastian nods in agreement and refocuses his gaze. "So, she notices that some of the supposed ghosts are actually spirits. And, they weren't trying to scare people off by yelling gibberish but begging them to stay, in their ancient, forgotten language."

Furrowing his brow, Bach sits up and searches his mind, significance sinking in. His face blanks, and he ponders the notion further. Astonishment fills Bach's face, and he gazes back at his brother. "Wait... Holy shit... That was her?! Now I remember. I was reading up about some new line of research over at The Grand Library about investigating popular media for signs of spirit activity."

Sebastian drifts up with a proud grin and puffs up his chest. "She wrote the grant proposals, dove head first into spirit studies, and hit a few ruins. When she came back, she brought back more historical records in a year than some of the Elders ever did in ten years."

He leans close to Bach and whispers behind his hand with a smirk. "Though, good luck getting any of them to admit it."

Catching Bach's understanding eye roll, Sebastian settles his visage back upon the bed. "But... They made her a Master Sage on the spot. The youngest one EVER."

With a righteous undertone, Bach nods in agreement. "Well, hell yeah! I mean, you make a discovery like that, you should get some recognition. I think you deserve that much."

Sebastian darkly sighs and frowns, his stare drifting down. "Yeah... Recognition she got alright..."

Noticing the drastic change in tone, Bach focuses on his brother with a lift of an eyebrow. Moments of contemplation pass, the problem dawns upon Bach, and he cringes. "Aw, dammit... I think I know where this is going."

Sebastian nods grimly and draws in a long ethereal breath. "YEP. The whole family recognized that achievement. Everyone now paid all kinds of attention to her... And, specifically, her achievements to tout to the other families."

Hissing out a long reverberating sigh, he slumps his shoulders. "What's worse is the first major research assignment entrusted to her was the Sword of the Spirit Realm. It awoke and said it was instrumental to destroying Lord Noxian, the world's latest pain in the ass."

Bach holds his mouth briefly and slides his hand down to his chin. "WOW. Now that's some crazy Murphy's Law bullshit happening there."

Sebastian shakes his head frowning. "I know, bro. Gods, I was really hoping we'd defeat Noxian. Then, the Sword's quest is done! We return the damn thing back to The Grand Ol' Library, and go adventuring far from the fanfare. And..."

Bach cranes his head around and spots his brother's somber face hung low. "And?"

Sitting up with a faint hope in him, Sebastian rests his hands on his knees. "See if she would be willing go official and public about our relationship. It's not easy given how a lot of evuukians are adamantly against any kind of intermarriage. Disowning family members is NOT UNCOMMON. But... Despite all the bullshit, she does still care for her family."

Bach straightens back up and sorts through the drama in his mind, cocking his head to the side. "Well, maybe the man who killed Noxian would have gotten a free pass? I don't know. But... Damn. Just, damn, man. That's her call on that front and a hard one."

Sebastian lowers his face into his hands and groans. "I KNOW. So, I haven't really brought it further up to her, since I'm not going to put that kind of pressure on her. But, holy shit, I will be at her side the day she decides to tell them to deal with it."

Bach draws a smile and gazes at his brother's ghostly visage. "You know. I never would have thought you'd go for someone so serious... So seriously?"

Shaking his head, Sebastian chuckles and leans towards Bach. "Don't let that proper and uptight appearance fool you. She's just as crazy as I am, and it's amazing!"

Bach holds his hands up and twists his head away slightly. "Alright. I'll take your word for it. But, I really don't see it. Certainly a departure from what I've seen before."

Sebastian simply shrugs with an uncomfortable, wavering grumble. "But, so much for those plans. I gotta get myself back together again, before I even worry about all THAT."

Pivoting on top of the bed, Bach sides to the edge and places his feet on the floor. He laughs to himself and wrestles a frustrated wince. "Yeah. Yeah, you're NOT the only one with plans that got WRECKED."

Sebastian's visage floats around in front of Bach, and he narrows his concern upon him. "Hey, bro..."

He visibly swallows and eases out a long regretful sigh. "I've been a real dick in pulling you into all this mess, especially as hastily as I did. I promise... I really do promise to work with you and make things right and all-"

Bach waves his hand up and halts Sebastian midway. "Whoa! Hold up... Let me finish, man. Appreciate the sentiment and all."

Sebastian hovers nearby in curious anticipation, and Bach draws in a deep breath, concentrating on his words. "I hoped that you would have defeated Lord Noxian. Because... I figured, after all the fanfare was over and your group resumed normal, simple adventuring..."

He gazes at his ghostly brother with a hint of a smirk. "I was going to ask if you'd let me join up."

Sebastian yanks his head back in sheer surprise and shudders at the full realization. "R-r-really?! I thought you didn't want to do the whole adventuring thing? Not risking your life and all that?"

Exaggeratedly shaking his head side to side, Bach groans. "No. No. No. THAT was just some bullshit I spun to hide the real problem."

Gritting his teeth, Bach winces with a squirm down his spine. "You know that encounter with the Nightmare Geist?"

Nodding his head slowly, Sebastian furrows an inquisitive brow. "Yeah. Kind of hard to forget."

Bach sniffs in a long breath and sighs. "It left me, uh, a lame mage... I... I just... I just couldn't tell people that, especially not mom and dad."

A distant glare to some point beyond the room masks Bach's face. Closing his eyes, tears run down. Sebastian reaches out for Bach's shoulder, watches his hand pass through, and musters up all his encouragement into his voice. "Well... That's obviously changed. Which is fucking awesome!"

He shrugs his shoulders and snorts with a grin. "Pretty capable lame mage to me. Looks like you got the basics working pretty fuckin' good."

Bach dons a determined smile and chuckles. "Yeah. Something has changed. Gods, it took me over five fucking years to figure it out. But, I think I got a way, again. Some way to work around it all."

Sebastian nods in agreement and scrutinizes Bach. "I'll say. I get the feeling there's still limits and all?"

Averting his gaze off to the side, Bach twists uncomfortable grimace on his face and pauses in thought a moment. Seconds pass, and he eases out a sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, you can say that. It's..."

He eyes his brother and furrows his brow. "It's complicated."

Sebastian slowly rocks his head in a series of nods. "Fair enough, bro. That... That I can respect."

Waving the topic aside with his hand, he cocks his head and stares at his brother. "So, why didn't you try to reach out? Contact me? Anything?!"

Bach slumps his shoulders and glances off to the side, wrestling a frown. "Man. I just wanted to join you when I at least had it working decently enough, first. I mean, no sense in just being dead weight when you all were in the midst of chasing Noxian around."

Sebastian shines brightly with an ear to ear smile. "Bro, I think you're more than decent enough right now. Don't know what you've been waiting for."

Rolling his eyes towards his brother, Bach stares at Sebastian and hoists up an incredulous brow. "DUDE. You saw my recent situation."

Pausing within the moment of recall, Sebastian nods slowly. Bach swallows a bit of his pride and shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. Not the best environment to gauge anything about yourself. And THAT was one of the BETTER ones I've been in over the last few years."

Sebastian stiffens a frown and bites his bottom lip. "Shit, bro. Sorry. Really."

Bach snorts and bows his head. "Ah. Don't worry about it. Like any of us have been right in our minds lately."

Nodding in agreement, Sebastian cringes. "Yeah."

The two share seconds of thoughtful silence. Sebastian shudders back to awareness and smirks. "WELL, hopefully, Aristespha finds a good local job soon, and we'll get you on your first real quest. It'll be good experience, and I'm sure you'll figure it all out soon enough."

Bach rubs the back of his neck and contorts unsure smile on his light than face. "Uh, you think I'm ready? It's only been a week of training and-"

Laying back and drifting in the air, Sebastian laughs and waves off the concerns. "Ah, bro... Don't worry. Simple task. Nothing too fancy. I looked over Aristespha's shoulder when she was browsing the job listings. There's a bunch of ruins in the area the county needs adventurers to check up on to make sure nothing moved in or awoken there the last few years. Usually, you go out there, admire the architecture, take a few pictures to confirm nothing has changed, and then go home for the day."

Bach tilts forward off the bed and nods. "Yeah... That sounds good."

Sebastian points at Bach and smirks. "Plus, it also helps us in hunting down Noxian. Well, more likely, we figure out where he's not."

Bach points back at Sebastian and returns the smirk. "And, just maybe... Find a few places that might provide an alternative to finding him."

Cracking a grin, Sebastian chuckles. "Exactly, bro."

Bach parts an eager smile and snatches his boots over to him with a swing of his arm towards the floor. "You know, you're right. It's a nice day. I should, at least, take a walk outside. Go see what everyone is up to."

Sebastian floats off towards the bedroom door and glances over at Bach. "Speaking of which, I'm going to go see what Aristespha and Sotalia are up to. They've been studying magic articles all morning and talking about a light orb spell or something?"

---

Kneeling near a steel plate in the side yard next to the ranch style house's long wall of windows, Dretphi inspects the frame holding the target. Cideeda reaches into her tool bag's front zipper pocket and retrieves a micrometer caliper. Examining the hole straight through the steel, she furrows the brow on her light brown face and picks at the charred edges with a curious claw tip. She measures with the caliper, narrows her emerald green eyed gaze, and plops down on the ground with legs stretched out, flicking her long, fluffy tail. "What the hell put a twenty five millimeter wide hole through thirty millimeters of steel armor plate?!"

Dretphi investigates the outer rim of the hole and feels the roughened surface of the metal. "Not a kinetic projectile. This was melted."

Groaning contemplatively, Cideeda lays back in the grass and huffs with a twitch of her furry ear. "It couldn't have been magic..."

She briefly squints her gaze up to the blue skies above through the fresh, green tree canopy. "At least, not any magic we usually use. Aristespha doesn't care much for those types of spells."

She motions at the space around the metal plate and supporting frame. "And Sotalia wouldn't be able to put that clean and round of a hole into the thing. If it was her, there would just be a molten pile of slag and a small forest fire."

Throwing out her arms into the air with her upper body, she sits up and points at the target. "I mean, this looks like the work of an anti-armor plasma cannon."

A familiar voice sounds out nearby Cideeda and Dretphi. "Well, uh, I kind of modeled the spell after one."

Cideeda's tail twitches, her furry ears flick, and she glances back to Bach standing behind her. She twists and twirls herself up on her feet, pops up, and stands in front of Bach. Crossing her arms, she aims an inquisitive stare up at Bach and flexes her toes claws into the dirt. "Really? Now..."

Narrowing emerald green eyes, she parts a intrigued smile. "Mind you, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed I wasn't here to see it happen. THAT had to be quite a bit of power."

Tapping the steel plate to a faint resonate ring, Dretphi stares curiously at Bach, traces of disbelief tugging at her smirk. "One of your spells did this?"

Bach slouches, wrestling with embarrassment, and hangs his head guiltily. "Yeah... Uh, sorry about the plate. I got a little carried away yesterday with showing off. Sebastian and I got caught up in talking about past stuff we've done and some of the old spells I know..."

Cideeda glances over at the plate and snorts with a dismissive, toothy grin. "Ha! Don't worry about it. That plate was doomed the day I bought it from the scrapyard. Dretphi and I are going to sight her anti-armor rifle with a new scope we picked up some time ago, today. There's a few targets around I set up at different distances, down safe fire lines."

Dretphi points over at a heavy frame off the side nearby, similar to the one suspending the metal plate. "We use paper targets in front. Hang the plate at an angle behind so the rounds deflect into the dirt."

An embarrassed grimace grips Bach, and he walks over to the metal plate. "Ah. Shit. Um, yeah, let me fix that, then. Don't want anything to catch and bounce off at bad angle from that hole."

Dretphi stands up to her full imposing height and smiles, calmly waving off Bach's concerns. "It is okay. That hole should not cau-"

With a perk of her furry ears, Cideeda raises up a clawed finger towards Dretphi and flashes a sly, toothy grin to her with a wink. "Let him fix it, since he did offer. I'd like to see this."

Bach eases down to his knees in front of the steel plate. Glancing over the area, he picks up one of the larger chunks of steel slag poking out of the short grass behind the target. A blue glow flows into his eyes. With a flick of the wrist, the large chunk floats out from Bach's hand and hovers steadily. He guides the chunk near the ground and sweeps around near the steel plate. Small specks and bits of steel pop out of the grass and tumble upon dirt to join the hovering chunk. The collection of metal merges into a larger mass. Seconds of dutiful hunting pass, and the sounds of scrap impacting the collection silence. Bach opens his free hand near the hole in the plate and closes his eyes. The metal around the hole morphs slowly. The entry and exit edges warp flush with the rest of the plate, and the interior of the hole smooths out. Bach widens his glowing blue eyes and concentrates his stare upon the floating, steel fragment collection. An orange-red glow brightens within the gaps of the bits, and the mass melts into a rippling, fluid ball. Directing the molten orb into the hole in the plate, Bach guides ooze into the gap. A smooth plug forms and cools seamlessly to the edges. The heated glow radiates out from the middle of the plug to the outer edges, briefly glowing brighter and fading completely.

Waiting a few moments and collecting himself, Bach wipes the sweat off his forehead and releases a worn out breath. He stretches his legs out from underneath and plops down upon the grass. "That should do it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find every little bit I blasted out, so there's an indentation on the back of the plate."

Drawing in a long breath in, he exhales, hints of fatigue slipping out. "Got most of it though..."

Blinking blankly, his words drift into confused silence. Bach eyes Dretphi and Cideeda on either side of him. Cideeda and Dretphi stare at the plate in awe. Bouncing a gaze to either side, Bach settles his attention forward. A large hand rests on Bach's shoulder, and Dretphi leans in with an enthusiastic smile. "Your training now includes armor repair work."

Another smaller, clawed hand lightly grips Bach's other shoulder. Cideeda's sly, toothy grin widens, and an eager spark lights up her emerald eyes. "You are going to save this team so much money on repairs and replacement parts. I hope you are prepared to make a lot of money by fixing up and modding all the extra gear we pick up for sale."

Bach closes his eyes, grimaces uncertainly, and groans with begrudging acceptance. Dretphi pats his shoulder and smiles comfortingly. "Do not feel bad. Your value to the team grows. More you can contribute to our efforts."

Grumbling into an annoyed wince, Bach lowers his head and sighs. "Yeah... Sure... I'm useful... As a magical multi-tool."

Cideeda playfully squeezes Bach's shoulder and chuckles with a wag of her fluffy tail. "Hey! THAT is NOT a bad thing to be. You don't see those other two mages pulling shit like this off. Anyway, we'll make it worth your while."

She leans closer to Bach and grins. "You want to shoot guns with us?"

Bach rocks his head side to side in deliberation. Quiet, faux contemplative moments pass, and a humored smirk cracks out the corner of Bach's mouth. He quickly nods. "Yes. Yes, I want to shoot guns. That sounds fun."

Cideeda springs up eagerly with a hop to her step. Dretphi rises up and offers an assisting hand to Bach. Getting pulled up, Bach joins Cideeda and Dretphi, and the group sorts through ranged weaponry nearby upon neatly arranged mats and in organized cases.

---

Rushing into the living area and placing a hand on the couch arm, Sotalia vaults onto the nearest cushion. She searches under the random things on the coffee table, sliding the assortment around. She snatches up the remote and flips through channels on the TV. "Gods dammit... Hey! What station is it around here?!"

Cideeda leans on the dining table, scrolling through a holographic schedule listing from the holoplayer, and projects her voice over. "Channel three dash ten!"

Squinting at the numbers appearing on the screen, Sotalia presses in the right sequence. Dretphi scoots over behind the coffee table and settles upon the middle cushion. Placing a large bowl of popcorn on the tabletop, she scoops a handful for herself. Brushing off some fuzz on her T-shirt and looser cotton pants, Aristespha glides into the nearby reclining chair and pulls a lever back, releasing the footrest. Cideeda scrambles into the remaining spot on the couch and eagerly stares at the display on the wall across the group. Bach wanders into the space, pans a gaze over assembled team, and cocks his head, confusion twisting a smirk. "Okay... So... What's exactly going on here?"

Cideeda sweeps up a handful of popcorn and explains, between bites. "The two hour premiere for the... New season of the Next Adventurers of Nexus... Is on tonight!"

Sliding over a chair over from the dining table, Bach sets up next the couch and furrows his brow curiously. "Huh. I've heard of the show before. I've caught it a few times on bar TVs."

Lifting up a intrigued eyebrow, he turns his head towards the group. "I'm actually kind of surprised you all watch it."

Propping her socked feet onto the coffee table, Sotalia stretches her arms back and sinks into the couch. "Oh, GODS. It's a total shitshow. But... We can't help BUT to watch the trainwreck each season."

She rolls her golden eyes and sighs with playful guilt. "It's just one of those guilty pleasures and all. I wonder what incompetent mage they got this time around."

Phasing through the wall above the couch, Sebastian glances around eagerly between the team. "Hey! Did I miss anything?"

Aristespha shakes her head and spreads out a blanket from the top of the couch chair over her. "No, Sebastian. They just got done with the show intro. They haven't even announced the new party."

Bach leans back in his chair expectantly, an apprehensive rise of the brow forming. The entire gathering quiets down, and the announcer on the television screen goes into his routine.

"Welcome everyone to the new season of the Next Adventurers of Nexus! We have an amazingly diverse party to follow this season! Without further ado, let's get to know our Adventurers!

The show cuts to a montage of prerecorded segments of all this season's cast, extensive editing framing each individual in grandiose poses and special effects highlighting their action scenes. The clips freeze into images of their faces, and the lineup assembles in a row upon the screen.

"Hailing fresh out of school from High Alton, Chad Bosch!"

Bach and Sebastian squint at the television in unison and glance at each other briefly. On screen, the scene zooms into the first image of the lineup, the picture unfreezing into video footage. The view zooms out and showcases a muscular human with well kept, short brown hair.

"Hello, people. I'm the heroic, almighty leader of the Flames of the Phoenix adventuring group. Let us fight your fires with our fire!"

Struggling to contain herself, Sotalia snorts out in a vicious cackle. Aristespha visibly cringes to a grimacing tilt of her head and averts her violet gaze, fending off second-hand embarrassment. Snickering with a sharp grin, Cideeda shakes her head and combs the light brown mixture of fur on her long, fluffy tail. Dretphi simply groans into a sigh. Sebastian glances over towards Bach and points at the screen. "So... THIS is why we don't have a team name. Period. I used to want one. Then, I saw one episode of this. Now... I'm just happy to have the registration number only."

"A choice slogan for sure there! Next on the roster is Tassilda Evernia, the Emin enchantress!"

The show zooms back out from one image and shifts into the next. The scene cuts to a shapely, voluptuous woman with long raven hair, swirling horns, and piercing blue on black eyes. She tosses her hair back over the shoulder with her black nailed fingers and reveals more gray, patterned skin under her form fitting robes. "No one can escape my charms... And my spells."

Aristespha incredulously quirks an eyebrow and cocks her head to the side. Sotalia disapprovingly contorts her face and narrows a glare at the screen. "Gods... That one is just trouble. OH, I can feel the sheer bitchy through the screen."

"Magic we have! But, what's a party without some muscle? Here to lead the charge into battle is Trakenthin Stakken Olig Brecomin, the Grath warrior!"

Hopping the next portrait portal, the camera starts at the midsection of a large Grath man and tilts up to his face. Trakenthin maintains a deadpan, stoic expression on his dark bronze face and stares unmoved at the camera. The silence draws out into a long wait. A single, loud grunt sounds out from Trakenthin. He glares at the camera, the shot backing away from the imposing grath. Dretphi pinches the bridge of nose, flits of aggravation trickling out onto her tan face. Flashing an ireful glare at the screen, she twists her head side to side, tensing her neck muscles, and works out her irritated tension, tossing her platinum blonde braids. "Our native language contains more words than other languages. A palette of diction at his disposal. He..."

She hisses out her exhale. "Grunts."

Sotalia and Cideeda pat Dretphi on the arms and playfully sooth her frustrations.

"Truly, a stunning, poignant statement... Next on the list is the infiltration specialist, a mysterious Evuukian, Modoran Lotherin!"

A sharply dressed Evuukian man steals the scene, his tailored plain, dark shirt and pants fitting him firmly. He stands prominently, his dusky bluish gray skin contrasting white hair. Brushing back his locks from his face, he reveals his very long, pointy ears and smirks smugly with a nonchalant posture. "I have put my abilities towards the greater good, in spite of my Dark Evuukian heritage."

With sharp wince and eye twitch, Aristespha reflexively blurts out. "OH. Bullshit!"

She crosses her arms under the blanket and tilts her head back, swelling with indignation and contempt. "It's bullshit! There has NOT been a Dark Evuukian in Nexus since the last cataclysm! Gods damned children these days... Just because you have dark skin does NOT mean you have ANY ancestry to those raving, back-stabbing, psychopathic head cases! It is a complete misnomer from a bad translation into Americ!"

Listening attentively to the grumbling stream of Evuukian curses under Aristespha breath, Sotalia snickers with an amused smirk. "Oh, girl. Please. Tell us how you REALLY feel, why don't you?"

Aristespha squirms back into the couch chair and shakes her head with a disgusted roll of her violet eyes.

"An enthralling back story, I'm certain... Finally! The last in the pack, but the one who you want to watch your back, the Fvalian healer, Deedri Preetta!"

Blinking in sheer disbelief at the screen, Cideeda gawks with her jaw hanging open. "Is... Is... Is that bitch wearing a bell around her neck? Someone else is seeing this, right?!"

The TV shows a very excited, young Fvalian woman with auburn eyes hopping around energetically, waving to the camera. She neatens up an apron dress top matching her long skirt. Light from overhead glints off of medical magic script decorating her attire. Rings sound out from the bell necklace around her neck. She holds out a peace sign briefly and holds her hands up in feline motions. "Meow! I hope they never need me, but I'll always be here to patch everyone up in no time!"

Watching Cideeda flop back into the couch cushions, Bach waits for pause in her grumbles and inquires with a light tone. "So, uh, how many years did that set back the perceptions of Fvalians?"

With an annoyed hiss, Cideeda rolls her eyes and vents through gritted teeth. "About fifty, if she doesn't keep the damned stupid cat routine up. For gods sake, not every fvalian even has feline traits. You think they'd at least stereotype better these days."

"For this season, to mix things up and to match this unique team, we've decided to set our adventurers out in new territory! Let's see how their first day went..."

The show fade cuts to a discussion between party members on their drive down the highway. The camera focuses onto a grandiose roadside sign. An odd silence presses down upon the room, the fanciful "Amaranth Valley" script arriving into clear focus on screen. A string of evuukian curses rise up from the background, and one clear word leaves Aristespha. "Shit..."

Sotalia covers her mouth and shakes her head. "OH. My. Gods."

Bach glances around at the stunned stares and furrows his brow in thought. Reading the sign, he cracks a mean smirk and glances at Sebastian. "SO. I'm guessing THIS is a sign I missed, because I was ASLEEP when we all drove through?"

Struggling with an awkward smile, Sebastian uncomfortably nods. "Yep. That's the big town we're technically in the city limits of."

Bach returns his attention ahead and watches the TV. Flashes of indecision and uncertainty play out on his face, and his focuses wanders between his thoughts and the drama flareups on the show.