Before any words could be shared, Ogda took the initiative and stepped in his circle, somewhat prepared for the pact.  Lian, on the other hand, was just struck out of nowhere by a wave of incertitude, unsure if this was the right move.  From everything she learned so far, it made sense to try it- “humans get powers, no matter what, which can be dangerous for their body. And a pact with the firg can alleviate that stress.”

But she’s been told all of that by strangers. People that, somehow, offered her and her weird water companion food, clothes, shelter and “ it feels so wrong to me. I’m second guessing everything, no matter how it looks. Am I in the wrong or does this seem way too convenient.”

Lian crouched down, and hid her face into her palms. It didn’t help to calm her down.

“Nothing is for free, never is, never was. Did those two even fail their ritual or was it all just for show? To trick us…to trick me?”

Her ears didn’t catch the concerned people gathered around her. Somehow, right now, a boiling point was reached and her anxieties rushed out, in hurry, to find which will paralyze her or, even better, make flee from the site. Then, a monotone, gentle voice, broke through the noise.

Ogda -” Lian…did you know that humans had superstitions about weird companions?

Still dazed, the girl needed a moment to comprehend his query.

Lian -” What? Myths about spirits, familiars, and such?”

Ogda -” Yeah. Familiars, that was what I was thinking about…They would just pop out of nowhere and become attached to their humans. Some thought of them as extensions, or puppets of their masters but”

-”...but sometimes they could also live their own lives,” continued Lian.” Still, they’re primary role was that, no matter what, to and protected their human companion. Where are you going with all of this…“

She pondered about his words, trying to think what he was trying to even say. ”Is that how you see yourself Ogda, as my familiar?”

He paused, unsure of what to say. “Sometimes”, he replied shyly. “ Sometimes not. I’m not sure, but I feel like that’s how I used to feel before the amnesia. Truth is, I’m still figuring it out.”

 Lian -”Yeah, I guess I’m in the same boat”. The redhead stood up, filled her lungs with air and entered her side of the pact. A cut nail made her circle shine, but it lacked color. Ogda dropped a droplet afterward, and his circle didn’t do anything. Nothing happened.

A voice boomed once more inside of the water firg: ????“Middle one, tell a lie! NOW!”?????

Lian changed stares with Ogda, then Arim and the others, cutting another nail; also nothing. Then, in desperation she went for tips of hair, but nothing they offered was accepted. Still, her circle was bright, even brighter with each new piece now. A burning sensation acked at the back of neck, and as if summoned by her desperation the outline appeared again in her line of sight.

It took a few steps forward, taking her form in a red sketch, sporting a wide, wicked smile. The figure then pressed the tips of her fingers to the tip of the thumb, mimicking a telescope set over her left eye.

Unsure of what to do next, pilled with a momentary freight of failure, anxiety and paranoia, Lian put her trust in the outline again. She followed its instructions and felt something happening. Her sight split in half and, like the curtains of a show, slid for another picture.

The world transformed in her eyes. Colors were mismatched and compilations of gasses sprinkled all around. A stabbing pain in her back then made her fall on her knees. The outline stood happily in front of her, pointing up at the sky; for a few seconds, Lian could see another peel of reality.

An oily visage overlaid the real world, and she noticed something stretching downward-gray lines that linked both her and Ogda way above the skyline of the world, into the void. But they weren’t the only ones. Arim had a similar gray line, while pure white strings attached Giol and Zinc to the same darkened sky.

Lian then blinked and her glimpse got deeper; for a moment, she perceived maybe water? A still, upside down, murky ocean hovering above them all. And then it ended when a throbbing headache mixed with burning eyes drained her of all her energy.

Lian -” I saw…something.”, she muttered after the pain subsided a few minutes later. “No, I remember something. There’s a good reason me and Ogda can’t make a Fect pact- I think we’re already in another one, with something else.” It was based only on a hint, but something about it made sense to the girl. But she didn’t have much time to ponder it more, as soon the curtains fell, letting her consciousness slumber for now.

Lian later found herself in a bed, a hospital bed from what she could gather. It made sense, though, she probably collapsed. And she was alone, with only the sounds of rushing stuff grounding her in reality.

Huffing with relief, the redhead seemed glad about the temporary solitude. Hours spent looking at the ceiling was just what she needed to try and untangle parts of her mystery.  “ It all has to be so complicated, right?”, she muttered to no one, but it felt familiar to speak like that. In the past, the young woman would have gotten an answer from someone, even if she didn’t want one.

Lian- “- and you would try to cheer me up, making sure that your sister is not a weak baby. ” Out of all the memories she recovered so far, one set made her sure of something. Most of her family was still a strange concept to her, but the bond with this someone still lingered even now. Her little sister, lost somewhere in this world. Of that, she was certain about it.

“This is where I lost you, isn’t it? I’ll find you…it’s the least I can do…” declared with half a breath the redhead, putting her cold arm on her eyes. It brought little relief.

…..

As if he trenched a thousand miles of fiery pits, Goidel drops tiredly on the nearest couch, hiding his overly extended mind in some pillows. “Too…many…people”, he muffled underneath it, trying to catch a moment of relaxation.

Soon after, a cup of tea is delivered on the table in front of him, with a trail of mist leading toward a giant bookcase that stretches way above the light source of the room. The trail went up there, and after squinting his eyes, Goidel could finally notice the other figure in the room.

Goidel- “Oh, is that you Feth?”, he asked, quickly standing up and fixing his posture.

His colleague was browsing through some tomes, in a bored search for something to sink his teeth into. “Yes, yes, I’m also here, master scribe”, quipped the figure without turning around. “Enjoy the tea- I used my privilege as Head Librarian to ask someone to make it. Don’t even know why, I can’t drink that.”

Goidel took a sip and noticed that it was cold. And stale.

Goidel- “…Delicious. Anyway, we’ve been successful on our mission; and from what we could gather, it looks like it’s another infected case.” His tone was rushed, but this time the beaked fighter didn’t stutter or had any verbal blockages. Talking to his colleague felt quite easy to him.

Feth- “ Really now? Guess that means I’ll have to visit Blitz tomb in the near future.”

Goidel- “ Well, your ghostly appearance always completed that graveyard image of his laboratory.”

The Head Librarian snicked, followed by a healthy chuckle, making Goidel content that his little joke landed.

Goidel- “Oh, and another thing. We found a human and a firg there as well.”

This didn’t peak Feth’s interest enough to raise him from his readings, but he did follow up with some complementary questions. “ Interesting. I thought that layer closed off for civilians. How did that happen?”

Goidel- “ Still unsure. The two seem to suffer from amnesia, and all they know is that they fell from the sky. Perhaps. Oh, and one of them is a water elemental, like you.”

Feth- “ Yes, humans are 70 percent water after all” he quipped back, making Goidel now snicker.  “Firgs like that are rare, but not unheard off. Well, I can guess that they were dropped in the care of our trainees, so it’s their mystery to handle now. We have other things to worry about-” He paused, throwing a ceramic tablet toward his colleague.

Feth- “ Congratulations. With the mission completed, the Platinum Union has finished the first set of requirements imposed by those zealots.”

Goidel- “ I…I see”, he replied, fidgeting his fingers. “ Guess we’re moving to the next set?”

Feth- “ Of course. Wouldn’t want to keep the Dia waiting for us, wouldn’t we?