Advent - 1.5

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Morgan woke from something painfully poking into her spine. She groaned and shifted her body to reach behind her back. Her fingers picked up a small object. When she finally held it in front of her sluggish eyes, she found the earbud Robot had given to her. Memories of the previous day flooded her mind and she shuddered, pulling her arms and legs close. After some time, the sweat in her palm made the earbud slippery and it dropped onto her collarbone. The tiny weight pulled her out of the bad space her mind was spiralling into and she opened her eyes.

The room was bathed in light, a bright rectangular spot decorating the opposite wall. Morgan had forgotten to close the blends the night before. From the angle, it could not be past noon. She fumbled for her phone and checked the time. 10:34 A.M. It was much too early. She had slept just a little over six hours. On a Sunday. Normally, she would not go with less than ten on weekends. Nonetheless, she forced herself to crawl out of bed. Her parents would be less suspicious about her being tired if she got up before noon.

Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop and greeted Morgan with a smile as she stumbled out of her room. It felt like a stumble, at least. She found she needed little if any support to move normally. That came in especially handy when she got into the shower and the slippery ground threatened to fell her. It was simply impossible.

The cold water cleared her head and she realized Natural Agility was always active. No matter what condition she was in, she would move with superhuman control of her body. Unless Morgan wanted to fall over, it would be impossible to do so without an outside force. She came to like her selection more and more. It had surely helped her in the nightly potion crafting, preventing her from slowing down or slipping up due to tiredness. Maybe even in the mess in Chapelfield Garden. The slippery ground definitely was troubling for a number of people.

The fact she now had a place to brew whenever she wanted without showing her transformation slowly sunk in.

‘I can try all the recipes I want, now. Only need to get the ingredients…’, she thought.

That was more than worth having someone else know what she looked like. Especially since Samuel was her best friend’s father and had no reason to spill her secrets.

Morgan got out of the bathroom after putting on some casual clothes and got herself breakfast.

“You’re actually up?”, her mother asked.

“Mhm.”

“This early on a Sunday?”

“Hmhm.”

Bethany picked up her free hand and gently caressed it. For a minute the two looked at each other, a soft smile on the woman’s face. Morgan soon continued to eat her scrambled eggs, her mother letting go.

“How did you sleep?”, Beth asked.

Her daughter shifted her hand from side to side while swallowing her food.

“Not as bad as I expected”, she said.

Another soft smile played over her mother's lips.

“If you want to talk just say it.”

Morgan nodded.

“Where are the others?”, she asked after a bit.

“Livy is still sleeping. Ellie and your father are watching some TV.”

Now that she said it, Morgan could hear faint sounds coming from the living room.

“They didn’t want to wake you so they turned down the volume.”

“And I woke up anyway. Wasn’t even because of them”, she choked a laugh, “I want to visit Syl and Hannah later.”

Her mother nodded.

“I’ll come along.”

“No need to. I’ll be fine.”

“Morgan. I’m coming along. I’ll even drive you there.”

“Mum!”

“No mum. Just let me have this.”

“...Fine”, she relented.

Her mother grabbed her hand once more, caressing it. Morgan reciprocated the gesture.

“Which hospital are they in?”

“University.”

“Alright. Call ahead and see if we can even visit them today.”

Morgan nodded and got up to put away her dishes.

Half an hour later they were on the road. The hospital had told them visitors were welcome until late afternoon as long as the patients agreed. Sylvester and Hannah were both to stay at least for a few more days to keep an eye on things. Hannah likely had to stick around for a while longer until her wound was fully healed. Despite that, they both had beds on a normal station and could move around as they wished.

When they arrived, Morgan and her mother met the couple sitting in a common room not far from their rooms. Sylvester waved with one arm, the other dressed in bandages. Hannah had her chest completely covered and looked a little exhausted but otherwise, the two were fine.

“Hey, Morg”, Sylvester greeted, “Hello Mrs Moore.”

“Morning”, Hannah said with a yawn.

“Why, it’s almost noon!”, Bethany answered, “How are you two doing? Morgan told me how you got hurt.”

“Fine. They want to keep an eye on my arm to see if there’s any lasting damage from the cold and I can’t really move it but it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Painkillers”, Hannah smirked, “Best thing ever!”

“I see. Your injury seems worse, Hannah. That’s a sensitive area to get injured.”

“It’s fine. I’ll need some time to heal but it won’t kill me.”

“That’s good”, Bethany nodded, “Well, I’ll leave you for a bit, then. Make sure to call a nurse if you guys need help!”

Morgan’s mother ruffled her hair as she walked off.

“Seriously, mum? I’m not 10 anymore.”

Hannah laughed.

“Well, with that shit yesterday you can’t fault her for being clingy.”

“I get it but still… Anyways, how are you actually doing?”, Morgan said as she sat down next to them putting her backpack between her feet.

“It basically doesn’t hurt”, Hannah said, “The ice killed off the nerves as it went through. I have to replace my organs with copies made of blood whenever I need them. It’s exhausting.”

Morgan smirked.

“Well, I got my hands on something good. I don’t think you’ll have that issue for much longer.”

Sylvester raised his eyebrows.

“What have you done this time?”

“Huh?”, Hannah turned to him.

Morgan pouted in mock anger.

“I didn’t do nothin’, your honour”, she said as she pulled out the thermos and took off the cap. She poured the Basic Rejuvenating Potion into a plastic cup and gave it to Hannah. The girl eyed the liquid suspiciously.

“Is this blood? It almost feels like it.”

“It does?”, Sylvester wondered, “Here, let me try.”

He took the cup from his girlfriend and took a careful sip.

“Urgh”, the boy shuddered, “Tastes like someone mixed mud grass and blood. How does this even stay liquid?”

“Down it”, Morgan ordered.

Her friend gave her the stink-eye.

“Alright, here goes nothing!”

With three big gulps, the potion vanished in his gullet. Sylvester shook himself, smacking his tongue in distaste. Then, his eyes widened. He looked at his arm still covered in bandages.

“Something’s happening.”

Morgan knew there should be a soft red glow around the wound but the dressing was too tight to let any of that through. With a smirk, she took out another cup for Hannah.

“You too”, she said as she handed it to the girl.

She gave her a sceptical look but eventually downed it in one fell swoop.

“Brlghwlgrll. Dis. Gus. Ting. Where the hell did you get this stuff?”

Then her eyes widened. She let out a pained grunt.

“Fuck. Why did it have to restore the nerves first?”

“It should act numbing as well…”, Morgan said.

“Uff. Well, it’s manageable. I imagine having veins and muscles regrow like that should hurt a shit-ton more, normally.”

Meanwhile, Sylvester was busy shifting his formerly wounded arm around in the bandages.

As Hannah calmed down, a blue window popped up in Morgan’s vision. She froze for a moment, fearing a repeat of the last time. The first line quickly stilled that thought.

‘Repeated feat’

‘You gained 1(one) Harmony’

A stat point? What did that even do?

Sylvester’s musing distracted her thoughts.

“I… kinda want to call a nurse to take this off.”

“Yeah. Let’s”, Hannah agreed.

“Well… I’m not interested in getting chewed out, so…”, Morgan said.

“Understandable”, Sylvester nodded, “I guess we’ll talk later?”

His eyes made it clear he wanted to put her through the wringer right there.

“Sure”, Morgan agreed, “I guess I do owe you an explanation.”

She packed away the rest of the potion and the three got up to get the nearest nurse. The woman they found told them to wait for a bit and the friends said their farewells to each other.

“See you when we’re out”, Syl said.

“Yup. See you.”

When Morgan got back to her mother, the woman was surprised to see her this soon.

“Done already? That was barely fifteen minutes.”

“Yeah, a doctor came to get a look at them.”

“On a Sunday? I guess their injuries might be worse than it seems?”

“Probably just had a lot of patients and had to get through the important cases first…”

“Hmm… Aren’t there any healing spells now? That would make things much easier, right?”

Morgan stilled. She had not even thought about that.

“No idea. It doesn’t look like it. At least not yet. Also, would they even be strong enough to deal with all the bad stuff?”

“I suppose… So, want to wait for them to be done?”

“It didn’t look like it’d be fast. I think they’re gonna remove the dressings to get a closer look.”

“Which means?”

“Let’s go. I’ll call them later to see what’s up.”

“Alright. We can come here again tomorrow after school. If you feel like going.”

Morgan nodded.

“I’m going to school. It’ll be fine.”

“Hmm, if you say so. I could write a letter of absence for you if you want?”

“I’ll think about it…”

Soon after they returned home, Morgan got a text from Sylvester.

“We’re gonna be let out tomorrow. Doc wants to have another look. Talk at my place?”

“text me when ur home”, Morgan answered.

That would be an interesting conversation for sure. The witch knew she would have to give a few details about her Relic.

The rest of the day she spent with her family. Morgan was feeling a bit off with how little the brutal attack from the day before influenced her life. She would have expected to be a bumbling mess for the next while. Instead, it barely ever crossed her mind. Still, there was a very convincing argument about avoiding such troubles in the future. She simply had no real means to protect herself. Unless she prepared potions for every possible event and had a way of carrying them around there was little she could do to fight a threat.

The next morning the memories came back. Blood-soaked grass and terrified screams haunted her dreams. It seemed there was something stuck in her head. Morgan had woken up screaming and drenched in a cold sweat and simply laid there for what felt like hours sinking further and further into the terror. Only when her mother came in did she finally get out of that pit.

“Take it easy, Kitten. Stay home today, okay?”

She nodded weakly while hugging her mother’s arm.

“I’ll leave the shop to your father for today.”

“It’s fine, mum. Thanks”, she mumbled.

They stayed like that for a while longer before Morgan fell asleep again. This time she woke up without shaking and got up before her mind could go back there. She quickly got into the shower, enjoying how the cold water broke her last remains of lethargy. Once out, she saw off her sisters who were both going to school normally. Almost, at least. Their father drove them around and their mother would get them later.

Morgan spent the morning in her room watching cat videos. Today, even not-black cats were welcome as long as they were cute. There were a lot of kittens online.

Eventually, her hand found the hero’s earbud once more and she decided to put it in. A quiet click notified her of its activation and shortly after, voices spoke into her ear.

“…all bullshit”, a girl spoke. It was the flying hero, Avenger, “We saved so many people. Why do we have to train with the police or go to jail?”

“You know how it is, Lyra”, a guy that was most likely Robot said, “Politics. Oh, your friend just came on. Hey there!”

“Oh, hey! What’s up? How’re you doing?”

For a moment, Morgan considered simply taking the earbud out right away. Instead, she sighed before mentally activating the microphone.

“Hey. I’m okay. Have been better.”

“Yeah, been there, done that”, Robot replied, “I’m Jason, aka Robot, and the hyper is Lyra, aka Avenger.”

“… Morgan.”

“Nice to meet you, Morgan!”, Lyra cheered, “So, listen to this: My dad just put his foot down he wouldn’t get me one of the family lawyers if I don’t take the police offer to join their stupid training and now it’s going there or probably jail if not a hefty fine. Bah! Fucking sucks!”

“I thought you wanted to learn how to do that hero stuff?”, Morgan asked, “Isn’t this a good option?”

“It’s the plodders! They’re probably gonna teach us all about keeping things in line with the law and reporting everything that’s going on. We could do so much more if we just go out and help people!”

“I don’t know…”, Robot said, “I’m with your father here, Lyra”

“Bah! Traitor!”

A soft thump came through the microphone as if someone flopped onto a bed.

“I just don’t wanna get locked into some stupid protocol that’s gonna make me not save people.”

Morgan sighed.

“Instead you want to learn from someone who has no clue how all that is going to work?”

“No clue? You’re so much better in action than we are! Like, at least call the shots? I have an awesome Relic but that doesn’t mean shit if I can’t save people!”

“Which is why we’re going to get professional training”, Robot said.

A whine came from the girl.

“Alright, Morgan. Lyra told me what she wanted from you but I don’t really see things working out with you training us. What I could imagine is you joining our team. Even just on the back-end. I don’t trust people to operate my more delicate constructions in the field to their full effectiveness but I can teach you how to work the cams. Those are still standard issue. Mostly. You could be our information gatherer and shot-caller. What do you think?”

“Sounds absolutely not like me. I don’t want to get involved with any of this heroing stuff. I mostly just took the transponder to get her out of my hair.”

“Hey!”, the girl in question complained.

“Understandable. Well, you can keep it and listen in whenever you want. Only one thing. If I ask you to identify yourself, you’ll answer. I don’t want to have some stranger listening in when we discuss sensitive information.”

“Want to set up a code?”, Morgan asked.

“That’s… a good idea. Yeah. Fuck, you are good at this. I might actually want you on the team, now.”

“I told you!”, Lyra piped up.

“You didn’t before?”

“I kinda trusted Lyra’s judgement, there. She’s a bit hyper but has a good sense for people. Has that from her dad.”

“Yup, dad’s amazing!”

Morgan took a deep breath.

“Right. I’m not gonna join your team. I can say that outright. Saturday was enough stress for a lifetime. I might listen in from time to time, though. You guys seem like fun to be around.”

“That’s fair. Maybe just making a friend is enough. Alright. What’s the code?”

“You ask a question that means something to you and I answer something important to me.”

“Hmm…”

“Oh, I know!”, Lyra called out, “Who’s the strongest woman in all hero movies?”

“Of course…”, Jason snorted.

“Got a problem?”

“No, no. Go ahead, Morgan.”

“Right… So… I’ll answer… Baba Yaga.”

“Oh, that’s actually not totally off! You see, it's actually Scarlett Witch but many people say Super Girl…”

“Yes, we get it. You like comics.”

“I don’t like comics, they’re my life!”

“Why Baba Yaga, though?”, Jason asked.

“… I like witches and everything to do with them. Baba Yaga is just the first one that came to mind.”

“Really? Not Morgana Le Fey?”

“No. I pushed that one to the deepest recess of my mind.”

“Too close to your own name, huh?”, Jason observed.

“Yeah. I also don’t really like the whole seduction spiel many of the tales have. She’s kind of a whore…”

“Oof. That bad?”, Lyra asked.

“Depends on the legend you take. I’m not really against prostitution but I wouldn’t want to be associated with all that…”

“Fair.”

“Okay, so. We’re gonna ask who’s the strongest superhero…”

“Female!”, Lyra jumped in.

“Right. Who’s the strongest female superhero and if you answer Baba Yaga, we know it’s you.”

“That works”, Morgan said, “If you don’t ask for the strongest female superhero, I know it’s someone else. And if I have something sensitive to talk about, I’ll ask your question and you give my answer.”

“Sounds good!”, Jason said, “Alright. I have to get to my workshop. There’s something I need to fix with my suit.”

“Bye, Jay!”, Lyra cheered.

“Goodbye”, Morgan said.

A click told her the guy had turned off his earbud or whatever he was using to join in on the conversation.

“So… anything interesting happen?”, Lyra asked after a moment of awkward silence.

“Compared to Saturday? No. Not at all.”

“Right. You had some friends with you, right? How are they doing?”

“Well enough. I visited them yesterday. They’ll be out of the hospital sometime today.”

“Really? Didn’t the girl have some really bad injury?”

“We got magic now”, Morgan laughed, “That includes better healing.”

“Hmm… I’m not so sure. I haven’t heard of any real healing Relics. Some people have stuff for diagnostics and to tell them what to do but actual healing kind of spells? Seems either extremely rare or something for higher levels. Aside from that initial healing on the initialization and whatever self-regeneration Relics are around.”

“Mhm. Still, they’re good. I think Hannah has some of that regeneration stuff with her Relic.”

“Right. Jason mentioned something like that.”

“By the way. What’s his deal? Does he have some kind of mad scientist Relic?”

Lyra laughed.

“Not too far off, actually. It’s called Brain Drive. It’s a rare. He got accelerated thinking to start with and he was always a techy. Level two gave him some options for different tech specializations and he got a whole bunch of sciency knowledge for anything that shoots stuff. Guns, of course, but also information. That’s how he figured out the transponders.”

Morgan cringed.

“Why are you telling me all his secrets? Just a simple ‘sort of’ would have been more than enough.”

“Mnyeah, but. You asked. And I want you on the team. If I can get you invested and feeling like you’re already part of it that’s gotta improve the chances!”

“Haahh. Right. Whatever. I think I’m done for today. Gonna spend some time with my family.”

“Do that, Morg! Can I call you Morg?”

“...sure.”

“Alright. We talk a whole bunch all the time. Now that we don’t have any more patrolling with my father grounding me, at least. Just put it in whenever. I’m looking forward to talking to you again!”

“Yeah. Goodbye, Lyra.”

“Goodbye, Morg! See you!”

Morgan turned off the earbud with a thought and pulled it out of her ear. She played with it for a moment before sighing and putting it into her desk drawer. That was a complete mess in the works right there. Hopefully, the two would be very busy with their training.

Morgan was tempted to look the heroes up online but with no last names that would be an exercise in futility. She would have to talk to them to get some more details first. Maybe just making some friends was not such a bad idea even if they wanted to involve her in dangerous activities.

Half an hour later, her phone rang with its message alert. She checked it and found it was from Sylvester.

“omw home. Meet in 30?”, was the message.

She answered with a thumbs-up emoji.

Her mother once again almost didn’t want to let her go. Especially since Sylvester lived close to Chapelfield Garden. With some support from Crawla and Stumpy, Morgan finally convinced the woman. A call with Samuel and a promise to text as soon as she arrived and when she was on her way back made Bethany finally relent. She was very surprised to hear the two had been released already.

Sylvester welcomed Morgan as she climbed the staircase to his flat. Samuel and Hannah were in the kitchen and greeted her with gratuitous smiles. Sylvester’s father poured some tea for her and left for the living room.

“Thank you, Morgan”, he said as he left.

Sylvester looked at him with a question mark written on his face.

“What’s going on?”, Hannah asked once he was out, “Did you actually make that potion? And did Samuel know about that?”

Morgan smiled wryly.

“… Yes.”

“Your Relic?”

She nodded.

“Wasn’t the first one she made for me”, Sylvester said, “But why does dad know?”

“You mean that hit you took from Brad?”, Hannah asked.

“Yep. Morg came over in the afternoon and had me drink some ‘tea’. Worked pretty well.”

Hannah smiled at the witch.

“Long story”, Morgan said.

“Thank you. I have some self-regeneration but it would’ve taken me at least two weeks to fix that wound. And I didn’t even get hit in any vitals. Somehow that spike slipped right past my spine, lungs and heart. All at the same time.”

Morgan shuddered.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay now.”

Hannah got up and pulled her into a hug.

“All thanks to you.”

Morgan was relieved. That had been much easier than she had expected. Only to have the annoying questions pop up right then.

“So, your Relic is potions?”, Sylvester asked, “What kind?”

She looked out the window as Hannah let her go.

“… a lot.”

“And do you just get them from some pocket dimension, or?”

“No. I have to actually make them.”

“Like, with ingredients and everything?”, Hannah asked, “Does it just give you the recipe?”

“Pretty much. There are some magical steps that take some kind of energy. Almost like a spell.”

“And were those healing potions hard to make?”, Sylvester asked.

“… Not really, no. About two hours? And I still have three portions.”

“Ah. Sorry, Morg. If you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine. I was just curious.”

Morgan smiled at him.

“It’s fine. I just don’t want to talk about everything.”

“Like what?”

“Syl! That’s exactly what she doesn’t want to talk about!”, Hannah laughed.

The other two couldn’t help but join. Morgan felt good talking with her friends. She had so many questions but was scared to face her Relic alone. At some point, she would show them the transformation.

“Well, I still want to talk about our Relics”, Sylvester said, “Like, what rarity are you?”

“Syl is uncommon and I’m very rare”, Hannah said, “Pretty good, huh?”

Morgan blinked at the girl.

“Wait, what’s your Relic? Or do you want to keep it a secret?”

“Well, Syl knows and I know yours so… It’s only fair, right? It’s called Sanguine Presence. I can sense all blood within a certain radius. In bodies and outside. Doesn’t matter if it’s liquid or dry. On level one I got some basic manipulation that lets me control my own body a little better. It’s how I held the wound close. Yesterday, I got level two. I took a regeneration trait called Blood Growth. It has pretty good synergy.”

“You’re level two?”, Morgan wondered, “I’m still at one…”

“That’s fine. I’m at one, too”, Sylvester said, “I got a water summoning spell that lets me make tea very easily. Or I can use it to wash clothes.”

“Wait, that’s… Kinda weak?”

Sylvester laughed.

“I got bloody uncommon house magic. Of course, it’s weak.”

“You should use it more”, Hannah said, “You’ll level up. Probably quicker than me, if you really try for it.”

He wrinkled his nose.

“Eh, not a fan of cleaning.”

“You! You have it so easy! Seriously, just use it!”

“So, using the Relic is what levels it, right?”, Morgan asked, “Do we know any specifics?”

“Not really”, Hannah shrugged, “You just gotta do something you can do with it. That’s my guess, at least. Use all the new skills you get and stuff.”

“Any of you got a Stat point?”, Morgan asked.

They shook their heads.

“Because I got one yesterday after healing you guys. It said something about ‘repeated feat’ and gave me one Harmony.”

“Oooh! Interesting…”, Hannah mused, “So, there are some feats that give you, like, experience? For levelling? And when you repeat them, you get Stat points?”

“Probably?”

“Wait! What did you get for level one and when did you get it?”

“When I healed Syl’s burn wound. I… took a Trait. Natural Agility.”

“You had nothing better?”, Sylvester asked.

Morgan shuddered at the memory.

“Nothing I would ever take.”

“That bad?”

“Did you guys have a choice for the Relic upgrade?”

“Nope”, Hannah said, “For level two I didn’t even get an option. I had to take a Trait. Pretty happy with what I got, though.”

“I can see that”, Morgan said.

“So, back to feats. Do you think they’re specific to the Relic?”

“Most likely, I don’t think you or Syl could heal people with potions…”

“Hmm… Maybe it’s a general system?”, Sylvester mused, “Like, you can help people or you can hurt people? Stuff like that?”

“Not impossible but still… I get the feeling it’s something else…”

“What’s your rarity, Morg?”, Hannah asked, “You can tell us at least that, right?”

“Mnngh. Ah, fine. It’s only fair… I’m a unique.”

“What the HELL?”, Hannah shouted, “Hahaha! No wonder you don’t wanna talk about it! I didn’t even know that was a thing!”

“That’s so unfair…”, Sylvester said, “And here I’m stuck with uncommon house magic…”

“Maybe you’ll level faster than us?”, Morgan tried, “Isn’t that how it works in games?”

“Is it? I don’t think so… And Hannah already got a lead on me with you being even…”

“Because you never use your Relic!”, Hannah complained, “I have it on permanently!”

“Well, yeah. You got a passive blood sense. Not like you can turn it off, right?”

“Nope. I have to actively use it.”

“Is that why you’re always so tired?”

“Mhm”, Hannah nodded.

“How long can you use it in one sitting?”, Morgan asked.

“Around… three-ish hours? That was the first time I used it. Couldn’t get it activated for like three days after that. I’ve been pulsing it for a minute or two every hour but it hasn’t gotten any easier…”

Sylvester blinked.

“That’s really not that much…”

“I told you, right? It’s not that strong.”

The boy’s face turned from gloomy to relieved.

“I guess. It’s still cooler than house magic…”

“Any woman would be envious of your Relic”, Morgan said, “As would any guy living alone.”

“Absolutely!”, Hannah chimed in.

That brought his mood up even more.

“Thanks, you two. That really helped.”

Hannah got up to give him a kiss.

“Love you”, she mumbled.

Morgan sunk her eyes into her tea. She was not really interested in the more intimate sides of her friends’ relationship. It still was a little awkward to watch them make out. At least they separated shortly after when Samuel came in.

“You all done talking details?”, he asked.

“Yup”, Morgan said.

“Well, I’ve been thinking. Your potions are pretty good, right? Why don’t you try selling them?”

The couple looked at him.

“So you do know!”, Sylvester said.

The man smirked.

“Course I do!”

Morgan rubbed the back of her head.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it but… I don’t really know where to start. Like, with pricing and everything. And I’d have to pay taxes, right?”

“I did some digging and there’s very little to heal people with magic right now. Pretty sure there’s actually nothing ‘sides your potions. I think you’ll easily find a slot in the market. Only have to do the legal stuff.”

“Yeah, only”, she scoffed.

“You could try someone that’s already in the field. Like, a pharma company or something. Sell them your potions to distribute and have them handle all the taxes and stuff.”

Morgan rubbed her nose.

“Hmm, that could actually work. I’ll have to… Get a lawyer or something? I’ll think on it.”

“On another note”, Samuel said, “I think it’d be good if you three start to exercise. That’d make me feel a lot better about you going out again, at least.”

Hannah groaned.

“Think about it.”

“We really should”, Morgan nodded.

“You traitor!”, Hannah complained.

Laughter filled the kitchen once more. They soon found themselves talking over another cup of tea. Samuel told everyone about his Relic, Arcane Ear, that let him hear magic. He had only gotten one level that let him hear the intent even if he couldn’t see the spell which allowed him to hear that Morgan’s potion would ‘restore flesh’, as he described it. That was why he trusted her so easily two nights before. When Sylvester and Hannah wanted to know about how he learned of Morgan’s Relic, he deflected the questions to her relief. It was not quite time for that conversation.

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