Ghost And The Writer

As August made a step forward, they were no longer in the same forest, but a place that both reminded it and didn't. The colors had turned more vivid and the light felt confusing as if the sun was shining in at different angles. The trees showed different sceneries in gaps between their trunks. A meadow, a marsh, a thicket, a birch alley.

So that's why it was called a fae path… it wasn't teleportation, it really was a path, a shortcut connecting different places. Yet with each step August made, the scenery the same tree trunk gaps showed was different. Even as a ghost Mandy felt some dizziness and the newly acquired familiars seemed to be far worse off than she was.

Yet only after a few steps, it was over and they ended up in a mossy, shadowy and ancient looking fir forest. A girl with bright blue hair was standing further away, next to a huge stone with a hole in the middle. There was a doll in her hands not fitting with the girl's attire one bit. A teenager in jeans and army boots wouldn't walk around with a gothic porcelain doll like that.

Riveria and Ceruleum let go of August to catch on to nearby tree trunks. Ceruleum looked like he might even throw up.

"That was something," Ceruleum mumbled to himself, breathing deeply to calm his senses.

Riveria nodded, her face pale.

For just a moment a trace of a satisfied smile passed August's lips, but he let out a sigh, erasing that expression as he started walking towards the stone.

August certainly had a sadistic streak in him. Mandy felt sorry for the two and also - like she had lucked out that she hadn't tried this with a body-- At times it really was good to lack a stomach.

The one who spoke first was the doll, startling Mandy in the process. "When did you manage to get three familiars?"

Mandly stared at the doll, only now noticing that she was life-like. The proportions of the face were clearly those of a doll and the skin also had that soft shade of matte porcelain enamel, but the expressions, gestures and all the little movements were like those of a living being. The doll was blinking, her hands moved ever so slightly as she spoke and if not for lack of movement that implied breathing, she seemed fully alive.

"Moments ago," there was a deep trace of despair in August's voice as he admitted that, "and two, this one's a ghost in disguise," he tilted his head a bit to point to Mandy.

"You never cease to surprise," the doll said, then looked up at Mandybird. "I'm Violet, the one holding me is Alice, pleased to meet you."

"Mandy, likewise," the tit tilted its head in greeting. She didn't fail to catch the despair in August's voice, yet she had no idea why he felt that way considering he had made the offer to those two himself. Even if not fully serious, he had said it was something he wanted in exchange for the love potion c.o.c.ktail.

Mandy still felt that having dragons as familiars ought to make one a lot stronger. Or perhaps making the love potion booze was very time consuming and August was despairing knowing he would need to make 'all they can drink'? That was a possibility.

The two familiars walked up as well. Their steps had been sluggish in the start, but they looked completely fine now like all nausea had been a lie.

"Long time no see," said Riveria, taking on a more dignified air.

"Yes, sadly no time to catch up," Violet replied to her and cast a curious look towards Ceruleum.

"I believe we are familiar, just not in this form," Ceruleum said with a smile, also seeming more dignified (or perhaps distant) now. Was Violet someone special or were the two usually like that? Mandy figured she would see as time goes. At this moment the two looked reliable, standing just a bit behind August as two bodyguards would.

"Ah, yes," Violet seemed to recognize him now, but with that recognition came a fair amount of surprise, even shock. She regained a calm expression in moments, however. "Alice, these are Riveria and Ceruleum," Violet said. "Unless their names have changed?" She looked up to August to check.

August shook his head. No change there. This all gave Mandy a feeling that it was common for masters to rename their familiars.

"P-pleased to meet you," Alice finally spoke up, seeming spooked, then cast an incredibly confused look towards August to which August replied with a resigned shrug, like 'beats me'.

Hu-hum, so Riveria was surprising, but Ceruleum was shocking? Mandy made a nod to herself. Alice's and even Violet's reactions weren't a good sign. Was that what August was despairing about? Wait, didn't that mean it was a bad idea not to rename them?? Or maybe that was futile effort… You couldn't mask a Lamborgini by switching the brand logo to Ford, after all. That would only make it into a tasteless joke.

Violet looked up to the sky, then took out a small silver compass from her dress pocket. "So," she took on a more businesslike expression. "Our new gatekeeper will be entering this zone somewhere in an hour, Snarghlah'ahd will be either chasing him or following close behind. For that time, we need a barrier to weaken it and make a deal with songlies to end it. Songlies will come out shortly before the time Snarghlah'ahd appears. In an ideal case, the gatekeeper should have a debt to songlies, so they would stay around him for the following decade or so."

No one interrupted, listening to what Violet was saying with care. Mandy had already heard most of this from Sarah, but even the freshly acquired familiars didn't show much surprise.

August nodded. "Where are the songlies right now?"

"There's a fae ring around five hundred meters north from here, I had someone enter to bring them out," Violet replied.

August nodded at that too. Then glanced over at the blonde. "Ceruleum, what is the likelihood of a sacred zone hitting a gatekeeper today in a two kilometer radius around here?"

Ceruleum made a faintly amused smile. He put out his hand and a water orb appeared floating above his palm. He moved his fingers under it, the orb shifted. "None," he replied.

Mandy had been under the impression that August would have the two literarily tag along. This was, of course, better! She could watch mysterious magic happening all day long. This was the divination thing… same thing Ceruleum had mentioned when saying he had predicted August to be at the train station.

Both Violet and Alice showed surprise on their faces, although Violet calmed her expression moments later just like she had masked her shock before.

"Next, how high is a chance of there being more than one-- tentacle dog entering this zone within the following two hours," August asked.

Mandy could catch a moment of hesitation before August named the creature. To avoid using fae language most likely.

For this question, Ceruleum put his other hand over the floating orb, using both of his hands to cause distortions. This took longer. "High."

Violet and Alice seemed distraught about this.

August narrowed his eyes, frowning. "Two?" August asked.

"Yes," Ceruleum replied. "Fair note, I can do two more at most today," he added.

August let out a breath. "Are they both targeting the gatekeeper?"

Ceruleum shifted the orb for a while. "Doesn't look that way."

"Thank you," August said and Ceruleum dispersed the orb, letting out a long breath with it.

It wasn't hard to see that it was mentally taxing to do these divinations. Did it look the same when the bunny girls did it? Mandy glanced over at Riveria to catch her giving an-- envious look towards Ceruleum along with a small pout. Was she envious of the skill? Yet that small pout made it confusing, giving Mandy a sense that her guess was off.

"That's troublesome. Who could the second one be targeting?" Violet frowned.

"I hope we don't find out," August said. "Riveria, can you indirectly blast it away if it gets within five hundred meters from us?"

Riveria made a blooming smile like a flower after rain, her previous expression disappearing. "Sure~!"

Violet looked at Riveria like she was seeing an alien, but averted her eyes soon before Riveria could spot the look.

Mandy too found it odd that someone would be happy to do something like that, but coupled with the previous expression… was Riveria envious that August had asked something of Ceruleum, but not her? Hnn… that previous intimacy she showed coupled with this gave Mandy an odd feeling.

Not to mention the lack of intimacy between Riveria and Ceruleum - they gave of an air of friends rather than lovers. Had the love potion failed? No, better not think on this, perhaps dragons had a very different way of expressing their feelings. What did she know, really?

"If it approaches, we run and hide our tracks, right?" August checked with Violet, ignoring the odd expressions and reactions with a tint of slight annoyance.

"Yes, that would be best," Violet replied. "Unless it messes with the timing of events. The prophecy didn't mention anything about a second one, so if it does, could it be handled in the background?" She asked, sliding a look over Riveria and Ceruleum. "At an additional cost, of course," her eyes settled on August.

"Background, huh," August frowned a little. "Blocking the sound might be a stretch."

Violet let out a small relieved breath. "It doesn't need to be that perfect," she said.

"Fine. Was it an Averea prophecy?" August asked.

"Yes." Violet nodded.

"I see," August said, not asking anything more.

It looked like the only ones who had no more questions were August, Violet, and Ceruleum. While Riveria looked mildly curious, Alice and Mandy were both with huge question marks over their heads, yet - none dared to ask.

"Alright, who wants to stroll through fae paths?" August asked. According to plan, it would be Alice, but there were more options now.

And contrary to Mandy's expectations, Ceruleum and Riveria signed up instantly. "Me," they said at the same time.

August seemed confused about that enthusiasm and the same could be said about Alice and Violet. Seeing their reactions it was obvious that Riveria and Ceruleum were being strange.

"Violet, what will you be doing for the following hour?" August asked.

"Nothing, really," she said.

"In other words, Violet is free to answer questions. A wonderful opportunity for young curious minds," he advertised with a trace of a fake smile. It wasn't hard to tell he was trying to get rid of the enthusiastic pair.

Mandy could see Violet squinting.

Yet none of the dragons bought it as they took August by arms - one each, both showing slick smiles.

"So you mean, Alice and Mandy would be getting an education while we stroll around?" Ceruleum asked.

Violet let out a snort as August's expression soured. She was holding back her laughter. "Yes, I don't mind educating ~young~ minds," she added.

Alice's eyes were sparkling at the opportunity, she seemed to be the only one who was completely sold on August's advertis.e.m.e.nt. Mandy was tempted, but both going with August and staying seemed like exciting options.

Mandy cast a questioning look at August, not certain what to do at this point.

"Go ahead," August said to her after letting out a sigh and as soon as Mandy jumped off, August disappeared along with the two dragons who were holding on to him.

It took Violet a while to calm her d.e.s.i.r.e to laugh.

Mandy figured she might as well go back to her human form and dispersed her body to change shape all the while being stared at by Alice.

Mandy made a slightly awkward smile. "Is this your first time seeing a ghost?" Since Alice did not stop staring.

"No," Alice replied. "But I can't look at ghosts usually, you know, they might attack."

Ah, so that's the reason. Well, she had done the same in her tit shape. Did she make all those astrals feel like this? It felt kind of embarrassing, especially since she knew she looked odd in daylight. Creepy might be a better word. Alice didn't look creeped out, though.

"You are from this century, are you not?" Violet asked, casting a look at Mandy as well.

"Yes," Mandy replied.

"You've been a ghost for around... fifteen years, if I'm not mistaken," Violet checked, peering at Mandy with an appraising look.

Close! Mandy pursed her lips a bit. Was it her style? "Close to that," she replied.

"Haunting some obscure place till August came to clear you?"

Mandy pursed her lips. "Yes to the first part, no to the second." She started regretting not going along with August.

"Sorry for all the questions," Violet said with a smile, dropping the scrutinizing look. "I was wondering if he had repeated the same thing as his father. That was quite the romantic tale."

Oh. Figures then. She had had a feeling it might be the case - the story did seem to be well known.

"No, no, it was nothing like that," Mandy shook her head. But she didn't want to go around telling the actual story, so instead, she asked. "By the way, how old are Ceruleum and Riveria?" Violet had been really amused at August's wording, so Mandy had a feeling she knew.

"Older than two millennia, at least," Violet said, an amused smile returning to her face. "I wonder if August misspoke or if he's unaware of their ages."

Or unaware of Violet's age. But that was not something Mandy would point out. Violet was a female doll and ladies weren't happy when one spoke of their age, so Mandy didn't wish to risk offending anyone. Judging from the air and bearing, though, Ceruleum and Riveria felt youthful, matching their appearance even, while Violet gave her the sense of a m.a.t.u.r.e lady.

Naturally, none of them knew which was the case, so Mandy chose to ask something to Alice: "Does Alice also feel dizzy when walking through fae paths?" She hadn't seen an enthusiastic response at the time when August asked the question.

Alice nodded. "But I'm used to it," she added.

So dizzy, but used to being dizzy? Had she done a lot of missions with August before?

"My usual party has an elf, so," Alice added.

So not August. Mentioning that implied that elves walked through fae paths too, which fit with their fantasy image, so no surprise from Mandy there.

"I wonder why those two were so--" Alice said, looking for words.

"Familiars have an aptitude to learn their master's skills," Violet said. "The more they experience it, the faster they will pick it up."

Ah. That explained it to Mandy. Although-- wait, did that also apply to other dryad skills like making forests grow and charged fog? That was not something she could ask Violet and Mandy felt it was better to ask that to those two in any case.

"I know," Alice sought for words. "I mean,"

Mandy tilted her head slightly, curious what Alice was trying to say. It wasn't hard to tell that Alice was not very used to expressing herself.

"Oh," Violet smiled. "They weren't acting very dragon-like, is that it?"

"Yes. And a dragon contracting a mortal is strange," Alice said.

Mandy did her best to keep a poker face. She completely agreed about the two not matching her fantasy impression of dragons. Turns out she wasn't the only one thinking that way. And considering Violet was familiar with the two - that only hinted at things being odd.

"True, dragons lock the ones they love away rather than forming contracts to share their lifespan," Violet said.

Love… Mandy would have choked if she had a living throat… damn it! Her odd feeling had been spot on! If even Violet, who was familiar with the two, put it that way, then it was almost a clear thing. Haaa--

August had said clingy, huh? Clingy towards him, he meant? Did August try to get rid of two troublesome elements at the same time with that love potion?

And did August know about dragons locking their sweethearts away? Did he date Riveria knowing this? No, wait, he dated the widow spider despite knowing she would want to eat him. August's tastes in women were something… Mandy didn't know what to think knowing she was also among them.

Alice nodded at that, not showing any surprise at this part.

"It certainly doesn't take a genius to tell they are both smitten with him," Violet said, reaffirming her previous line as she glanced towards Mandy with an amused look.

'Hello darkness my old friend,' started resounding in Mandy's mind. She would need to protect more than just August's writing time, huh? Would he even be safe surrounded by those two-- no, it was fine if he wasn't, but-- what was she doing here then? She would miss it all if anything would happen… But they were both so chill with learning she was his girlfriend?? Ah, confusing. This was all so very very confusing.

"But the fact that they formed a contract only tells that…" Violet continued.

"He isn't a mortal," Alice finished the sentence.

And both of them turned their eyes to Mandy, who was doing her absolute best to keep a pokerface and failing, as her eyes were wide and 'oh crap of crap oh crap' was swirling around her mind.

The part about them being into August was kind of shocking, but to think that forming a contract like that also implied that much about August--- That explained his despair... She had to say something to delude them, but nothing came to mind.

Quick. Say something.

"They agreed to contract in exchange for booze," was what she ended up saying. It was the truth-- the contract was formed with that premise, elaboration came afterward. She had told no lie.

A silence descended upon the three, then Alice's eyes widened in disbelief once the words sunk in and Violet showed an incredulous smile.

"...We will keep it as a secret," Violet said after a while.

Alice also nodded.

Mandy couldn't tell at all if that helped or not, but their expressions were a bit too shocked for her to feel at ease. There was a sinking feeling in her ghastly c.h.e.s.t.

"You might not know, but you shouldn't tell others about contract details between masters and familiars," Violet said. "Especially not this one. The only alcoholic drink that might work as a contract item with a mythical class being is ambrosia."

Mandy's eyes lost hope. A drink of gods, huh?

Violet continued: "And dragons wouldn't accept the contract unless it was something the master could ensure. Meaning, those contract details are a sure sign that August is someone or something capable of brewing ambrosia."

Alice made a faint nod, confirming that she too could figure that out.

Oh crap. Mandy hid her face behind her hands. So it wasn't a big deal for them to figure out he wasn't a mortal, but this was a big deal? Agh-- But true, undead were also 'immortal', but they weren't gods.

"While I don't think August would kill us for knowing, I wouldn't be so sure about Riveria," Violet added. "Can you keep it a secret that we know?"

"As long as you don't spread it," Mandy said in a weak voice. The bit of Riveria killing them didn't shock her since Riveria had tried to kill August (according to August 'not for real'), but still…

"We won't. I apologize, it wasn't fair to try sneaking hints out of you like this," Violet said. "Although I didn't expect something of this magnitude to drop out."

So she was doing that-- Mandy sighed, casting an accusing look at Violet. Well, it was a good learning experience and Mandy knew that Violet had saved August before, so there probably was enough trust involved to not make this into a disaster. "...What did you two assume him to be?"

"Artificial high dark elf," Alice said.

Mandy tilted her head. Artificial? August didn't look like an elf either-- So undead wasn't an option?

"You would expect something like that from Galord family, yes," Violet confirmed. "High elves are immortal until killed, August is obviously alive, yet uses dark alignment magic and we know he moves around using fae paths and can speak fae," Violet said. "But to think he was a dark dryad."

Violet using the word made Mandy's heart ache from her own careless attempt to help. But some things did catch her ears. "Dark, not undead?" the part about 'expected' from Garold family was another curious bit, but Mandy felt it was better to ask about things one thing at a time.

"Paladins and exorcists are guilty of spreading that name, but originally it was dark and light," Violet said. "Light elves descended from light dryads, dark elves from dark dryads, no death or giving up on life involved. Even Alice knows as much, right?" Violet glanced up.

"Mhm," Alice nodded. "Elves get upset if you use 'undead' in front of a 'dryad'."

It seemed like as long as you had some contact with elves, you'd be educated about this matter. Perhaps things weren't as bad as they had feared? At least, while both Violet and Alice had seemed shocked to learn it, none of them showed any apprehension. But then again, perhaps all the danger was in paladins and exorcists and no so much from other types.

If dryads were ancestors to elves, though, how come there was so little information about 'undead' dryads or dryads in general. Even more so, since it seemed like elves did pop up from place to place. But before that -

"Why would an artificial high elf be expected from Galord family?" Mandy asked the other line that had caught her attention.

"They have an artificial light elf in their family already," Violet replied. "That caused an uproar around a century ago."

Alice nodded. "All kinds of strange come from there."

Huh? It looked like August had a perfect ali-- no. The forest in the library. And charged fog. They wouldn't be in this mess if not for that. But if not for that - August could pass off as an artificial high dark elf, huh? "Artificial due to lacking elf ears?" Mandy asked.

Alice nodded.

"Yet, if it goes in that direction," Violet added. "Garold family would have a lot of explaining to do. Light elves aren't that uncommon, but Dark elves have had no contact with seeing side for close to three hundred years and no one seems to know where they went," Violet said.

Both Alice and Mandy listened in. So if Garold family was assumed to have made an 'artificial' dark elf... probably just a half-elf, then that would make it seem like they have made contact with them? Was there a chase happening to find them, if this counted as trouble?

"The guild only started acknowledging undead and astrals as possible guild members around a century ago when Grisham took over as guild's head. Before then anyone with dark alignment was an instant target. Right now Guild has promised a good reward to anyone making contact with the dark elf community just to air things out and inform them of change."

Mandy was getting small flashbacks of human history. Looked like humans made the same mistakes regardless on which side they were - magical or not. Discriminating someone due to their alignment or skin color or anything along those lines was something even embarrassing to admit having nowadays. But wasn't it like that with undead, still? "Are undead as bad as books say?" Mandy asked, perhaps Violet's answer wouldn't be the same as Tia's.

"Guild mostly deals with the horrid cases, the mild ones are either obscure or have little to no contact with mortals," Violet said. "Their impression is twisted by that among other things."

Mandy sighed in relief. That felt good to know. If she thought of it, it made sense for Tia to think undead were as bad as books told since she was an exorcist and exorcists deal with the bad cases day in and day out.

"Alice probably knows this bit of history, but guild was founded by a paladin, so there is that undertone," Violet said.

Alice nodded to confirm she knew.

That was a bit surprising. Mandy would have imagined that it would be a witch group or some other opposing force.

"Despite that, there was a lot of antagonism between the guild and the church in the start, since the founder instantly allied with like-minded witches, mages and alchemists, but as time passed the two organizations started cooperating and gradually acknowledged each other."

Mandy nodded softly. A bit unexpected start, but the more she thought of it, the more sense it made. If that paladin was a powerful and somewhat influential person before his 'betrayal', then it might be far easier for him to make something like that, as he probably had some inside information, and, Mandy would imagine, dirt on other church members.

"But it would be foolish to assume that those two are the only organizations. Undead, Witchcraft users, Mages, Necromancers, Contras, and Gemhearts have huge communities of their own. As far as I know, only every single exorcist is also a guild member, it isn't the same for others. Looking at guild members alone it might seem like exorcists form a third of the seeing side, but they are actually a very small community, numbering at nine hundred at most."

And fifty of them were Garold family members close to August's age? Yet rather than asking about that: "How does one become a part of those other communities?"

"You get introduced into it by another member," Violet said. "I can introduce you to someone who might lead you into the undead community, as a thank you for you keeping that secret from before."

That was lucky! "It doesn't have any odd requirements of killing people or…" Mandy needed to check. An undead community didn't sound like something sunny, no, more importantly - wasn't this tidbit completely contrary to what was written in that book? Or wait - who said that undead don't form communities? Mandy was sure someone had said it.

"I wouldn't know," Violet said. "You can ask that to the person in question."

Mandy nodded. True, Violet would only give her an opportunity to meet, it wouldn't be a set deal. She started feeling excited. An undead community, huh? A place where no one would look oddly at her and a place that might help her become stronger. The world sure was big.

"Can I contact you about it through August?" Violet asked.

Mandy nodded. "I can pick up his phone," she said.

"Then we have an arrangement," Violet said with a soft smile.

Mandy glanced at Alice to see if she wasn't taking up too much of Violet's attention. Rather, to gauge if Alice wanted to ask something.

Alice got the cue. "Violet, are there some communities you could introduce me to?"

"I could introduce to Magus community, but I think guild aligns with your d.e.s.i.r.es far more," Violet said. "If you get to gold rank you will be able to access all relevant spells through it without the tedious process of being a magus apprentice and going through the academic process they push for."

"...Then what's the benefit of being in it?" Alice asked with a mild frown.

"You don't need to risk your life to learn," Violet replied. "Most mages have no interest in battling astrals."

A look of understanding passed Alice's eyes. From this small exchange, Mandy could tell that guild was a fantasy like battle organization, but others might not be so at all. True, it felt more classic fantasy like for mages to be laboring over books not going out and running through woods. Rather, gather up and cast huge spells from the distance during times of peril, while warriors take the front line.

Her little fantasy scene had dragons and hordes of undead attacking a castle-- wait, that almost felt like a scenario of August becoming an evil overlord. That didn't fit him at all. Mandy internally crumpled up her scenario and threw it in the trash.

"Is the guild and the church the only places that actively battle with astrals?" Mandy asked to check if her conclusion was on spot.

Violet thought on it. "All communities can mobilize if there's a reason, but usually that's the case. Even during calamities only the guild and the church step up right away, as their values go along the lines of 'peace and prosperity for the world and its people'. Others have a wait and see approach, getting involved only if there's a direct gain in sight or to prevent a serious loss for them."

The line August said about not being able to refuse to deal with calamities came up to Mandy's memory. "Violet, are you also a guild member?" She knew Alice was a silver ranked one, but she wasn't sure about Violet.

"Yes, platinum rank, so I guess we will meet if a calamity comes up," she said with a smile, hinting that she knew that August had advanced.

Mandy tilted her head a little. Made sense if Violet could deal with something August could not, but were there perhaps some other benefits to being a platinum rank she didn't exactly know about.

"Why did you advance that far?" She asked.

Alice made a disbelieving look in the background, almost as if the question itself shocked her.

Mandy felt a wry smile appearing on her face. Mmm, actually Alice's reaction might be the most normal. By all means, it should be like an honor, not a burden how August made it out to be. Although August had his reasons and Mandy had heard from Sarah as well that August was kind of weak. A glass cannon, if she had to guess. And a glass cannon whose life goals had nothing to do with the guild or saving the world, no less.

Violet had an amused smile. "To get Grisham's love, perhaps? The way he treats platinums is something."

Alice pursed her lips and let out a sigh. Violet's response clearly didn't feel like the right one.

Mandy recalled the tea that probably cost a fortune-- Was that a part of that 'love'? Mandy doubted that was the real reason, but by asking that question she already got her answer just from the expressions Alice and Violet had made. There were a lot of benefits like it usually did in any organization out there if you rose through the ranks, August too, had made use of his status as a gold rank, but he wasn't lucky enough to slip away after that.

"Alice is aiming for it, right?" Mandy asked.

Alice made a firm nod.

"Hum, 'For peace and prosperity of the world and its people'?" Mandy asked, recalling what Violet had said before about guild's values.

Alice's expression turned a bit embarrassed. "I would like to become strong."

"Why so?" Mandy asked as that certainly wasn't a very teenage girl like goal to have.

"Secret," Alice replied. She didn't seem upset about the question, merely unwilling to answer.

Whoop. Mandy realized only then that she had asked something a bit too private. A teenage girl who was already strong wouldn't be chasing more strength while risking her life without a very profound reason. Perhaps Mandy felt so at ease with asking due to knowing Tia's reasons, as Tia was… hmm, Tia might actually be the same age as this girl. And wasn't Tia also silver rank?

Violet had a faint smile throughout their conversation. "I don't know about Alice's reasons, but when it comes to the guild - seven out of ten have astral related traumas and d.e.s.i.r.e to work in it to either prevent similar cases from happening to others or to take revenge."

Mandy could see Alice tensing just a little at the word 'revenge', yet Violet continued speaking like she hadn't noticed, but Mandy could tell she had from the way Violet's smile deepened a little.

"One out ten is a justice warrior, one is there for the money and the last one is there for secret agendas," Violet added. "At least, so I have to conclude from the century I've been a member."

"So many have secret agendas?" Mandy asked, starting to get a sense of how those on the seeing side pried out information. Even if Violet was sharing her knowledge, at the same time Violet was also gathering information.

"Yes, that's an open secret," Violet said, then made an amused smile. "If an exorcist goes and looks up everything he can about other dimensions, you would know he has a secret agenda without him telling a thing."

Mandy made a wry smile. August's ability to hide his tracks s.u.c.k.e.d. Really, how had he even hidden anything up until this point? Even Grisham had mentioned the part of August having studied those up-- but if one out of ten guild members were like that - with secret agendas - then did August even stand out? More importantly -

"Why do you know that?" If truly every tenth person had a secret agenda, it made no sense for Violet to keep up with all that. This almost felt like August was a Mary Sue protagonist of a novel and everyone was either interested or in love with him and stuff didn't work that way in real life.

"A secret," Violet smiled.

Mandy squinted.

"I'll give a hint, though. Riveria initially approached August for the same reason why I looked up some bits about him, of course, that was before he advanced to platinum."

Alice was also squinting down at Violet.

Mandy continued squinting and tilted her head. Fine. She would ask Riveria, her eyes moved up to Alice, though. "Is August a celebrity in the guild?"

"All platinum ranks are," Alice replied with a serious look.

"No, before then," Mandy asked.

Alice thought on it, then nodded. "His sister was platinum."

When did Sarah advance to Platinum? Mandy squinted.

Violet shook her head with a smile, stepping in. "He became pretty well known since he reached gold rank, he started dating Leroux, the black widow, at that time too. That was a pretty scandalous thing, but he has the typical Garold face so he wouldn't be easily recognized in the streets, if that's what you are worried about."

August had once said Mandy would see if they meet other Garold family members. Alice had already said all kinds of crazy came from it, but this bit was confusing. "Typical Garold face?" She asked.

"Ah, yes, it's a curious thing in that family," Violet said. "It's their secret of how they achieved that, but almost everyone with Garold blood looks like August or Sarah. Right now guild has about fifty Garold members close to August's age and the church has about the same amount, so it's hard to tell with whom you are dealing with till they show proof of their identity."

Mandy frowned. How was that an achievement? Well, he did have a very good looking face, but… wouldn't that make things really confusing pretty fast? Well, no, it did work in August's favor, but…. "Why is that an achievement?" Violet had put it out as something admirable. Was Tia an exception and other August's siblings looked like copies of him too?

"Along with that face their bloodline has not diminished at all over the past eight centuries," Violet said.

The family was THAT old? Wow. Then the count of people close of August's age made sense too. And so many people with that face, yet she didn't recall meeting anyone looking like that at all. The world sure was big.

"All main exorcist families were founded by heroes, but as the bloodline thins, they lose the ability to see astrals, so they are very careful about who they marry. That hasn't happened with Galord family. They are all born with the same level of perception as the founder without any need to bother about who they marry. The only cases where descendants don't look like typical Galord is when the other person has a stronger bloodline. But if the mate of the person following that generation doesn't match up, their further descendants still end up looking like a typical Galord. It's truly curious," Violet sounded fascinated.

It sounded like a virus, albeit a very useful one for an exorcist family. It didn't seem like Violet knew too much about it other than what she had said, though. "Heroes?" Mandy asked as that was something interesting sounding. She could tell from the context that heroes could see astrals and that they founded families that would banish astrals, but that was all.

"If under some weird situation a regular mortal killed a gemheart like myself, their blood would fall under a curse and they would gain the ability to see astrals. Humans call those who achieve that Heroes, other astrals can smell that they are murderers, though."

Mandy frowned. Wouldn't there be some serious amount of antagonism between gemhearts and exorcists then? Gemheart was a new word, Violet had mentioned they had a community and now Mandy learned that Violet herself was a gemheart too, but more about that... maybe she could look that up in the library? But what if the library had twisted information as it did with the undead?

"Astrals don't like exorcists much, that probably adds to why they have some bizzare negative take on them," Violet added with a faint shrug. "Yet that said, neither August nor his siblings have inherited the curse, as is usually the case if a hero makes kids with an astral. Love lifts curses, doesn't it?"

Mandy made a wry smile. In fiction it did. Alice's expression soured at the love line, even if previously she had been listening to their conversation with keen interest.

"Does library have an accurate description of gemhearts?" Mandy figured she might ask that.

"Well," Violet made a tired smile. "About as accurate as that on undead, I would suppose. Generally true, but they focus on the awful examples and they naturally know nothing about our community, but that's not something you can't do without."

Mandy couldn't help but share that smile. At least, at the very least, it wasn't that only undead got weird looks-- but now that Mandy had learned about the so-called 'hero curse', things started to make a lot of sense. Of course, the book entries would be so negative, if astrals saw and treated exorcists as murderers by default. Did exorcists know of this bit, though? Tia had mentioned dryads avoid paladins and ugly people, perhaps... that hero curse was what made them 'ugly'? There were so many details she was curious about, she didn't even know what to ask.

"Mandy, if you are to study up on the seeing side, I would suggest starting with history. Arianne's book is a good one. If you also look up all the astrals it bothers to mention you would have a solid base of knowledge or, how to say it, the common sense of the seeing side," Violet said. "You can also read 'etiquette of a smart witch' to prevent odd slips of secrets."

Eyy, Mandy would have thanked Violet for the tip, but right at that moment, a loud blast resounded from somewhere in the south.