The festival was fast approaching and it was easy to notice living in the village. I had decided to spend the nights in Circe’s room. The one in her parents’ house, not in the witch hut. Every morning I was slowly gliding above the roads and greeted the people who saw me. For the first two days, they got scared hearing an unexpected voice from above but soon, most villagers got used to it.

I had made another four arcane speakers using up the remaining brass. This many were just enough to have one for every one of my family members. The boys still had to properly learn Ordugh, though.

I had met with Shank and his brother to talk about building a place for my family. The man was lanky and rough but I felt he knew what he was talking about when it came to carpentry. His brother was a [Builder] and together they were providing everything related to housing and furniture the village needed.

I ended up paying a full gold coin for a small tower right behind the palisade. That way, my family could easily fly out of the village whenever they wanted. There would be a bottom floor for them to interact with the villagers and a roost up top to rest and raise kids. My parents were not planning to have more children for the time being but the future might change that. We would have to see what the paladins were going to do once they found out about us.

The work on the tower would begin a few days after the festival, so for now, one of my parents or my sister simply spent the night with me. They wanted to get used to the humans as well and stayed with Circe’s family for a bit every day. We even brought the boys over two days before the festival. They were somewhere between terrified and curious with all the large people around. Most of their time was still spent hunting, though. Without those race levels, they had no chance to reach sapience.

It was the day before the festival and Mira had just taken us through our roles during the ritual: Be quiet and observe. Circe was being suspiciously quiet in her chair while I prepared some tea for everyone. Grunk was eyeing my shadow tendrils working the human tools with clear envy. Sadly, I had no idea if he could learn something similar without vis enrichment of a suitable aspect. Mira left for the workshop to finish the final steps for the ritual preparation.

When I set down the cup of tea in front of Circe, she smiled at me. It was not fully reaching her eyes, though. Instead, there was some kind of sadness and reluctance. It was hard to tell.

I settled down on my chair and decided to simply ask her.

“What’s going on with you, Circe?”

She nursed her near-boiling tea and nearly took a sip from it before stopping herself. Her pupils stole a glance at me from the corner of her eyes before she slunk even lower over the table. I could hear the quiet groan even though her hair was hiding her mouth.

“You don’t have to tell me. But we’re friends. I’m willing to listen if you want to talk.”

“… I know”, she whispered.

Silence spread for a few minutes only disturbed by Master’s rummaging in the workshop. I doubted Circe’s ears were good enough to hear the knife slicing nettle stalks through the closed door.

“I – hick – I’m sorry Fio”, Circe started suddenly. Her breath picked up and a tear dropped onto the table.

“I’m sorry!”, she cried again.

I tilted my head.

“Apology accepted. But what are you sorry for?”

“I…”

She froze and glanced up.

“You’re not angry?”

“I’m not.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be angry about?”, I said.

“Mmmngh!”, she groaned, “Why? Why are you so nice?”

“Because I want to be nice. I want to make friends. And keep my friends.”

I took my wing and moved it towards her hair. Just before reaching her, I hesitated. Just for a moment. Then, I strengthened my feathers with shadows and pulled aside the curtain of blonde.

“Am I your friend?”, I asked.

In any other situation, I might have laughed at how cute her pout was.

“You are”, she said, “I think…”

“Then tell me. What were you apologizing for.”

“I… It’s…”

She tried to push away the shadows holding her hair. Her fingers found my feathers and she stilled. For almost a minute, we simply stared into each other’s eyes. Then, I pulled back my wing.

Circe sat up and rubbed her face.

“I’m sorry, Fio”, she began again, “I didn’t really treat you like a person. I think I saw you more like a smart pet.”

I titled my head.

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”

“Don’t make fun of me!”

“I’m not. You showed me around, taught me some things about the forest and the village. Helped me with witchcraft. Introduced me to your family.”

“That’s just it! We never really play! Or just hang out! Isn’t that what friends do?”

“Yes, but it can take many shapes. I enjoy learning new things so you showing me the village is just like playing. A little.”

“Is it though?”

The workshop door opened and Mira glared at Circe.

“Do not be angry, now. Fio has accepted your apology. Do you understand?”

Circe nodded, rubbing the last bits of tears and snot from her face.

“And thank you for your understanding, Fio.”

I inclined my head.

“I want to ask, though. Where is this coming from?”

Mira sighed.

“Circe has been treating you like something to own and show off.”

She raised her hand.

“Let me finish! She has been treating you like a pet, more than a friend. There is certainly friendship between pet and owner but it is not the same. I and Joanne both had a talk with her. I believe we have found the main reason for her misguided perception.”

I blinked. This sounded a bit too much like control to me.

“We think that you sitting on her arm makes her feel like that. I will admit that it is an easy method for you two to travel together but I would ask you to walk, or fly, on your own for the next while. That way, you will be less of an attachment to Circe and more of your own individual.”

Circe had shrunk into her chair once again and was glancing in between us. I gave her a smile with my facial feathers.

“We can do that”, I said.

Mira sat down and picked up her cup of tea.

“Now, there was something else, Circe.”

She mumbled something unintelligible into the back of her hand. It was not that it was too quiet for me to hear, she was simply speaking gibberish.

“You will need to say it yourself. It is your idea, after all.”

Circe collected herself and looked at me.

“You want to go see the Cathedral, right?”, she asked.

“Yes.”

“Well… I was thinking… I could come with you?”

“I can see the advantages in that but are you certain?”

“I am!”, she nodded.

“What about you, Master? Didn’t you need a [Witch] to be your successor?”

“Oh, I do still have quite some time, I hope”, she said, “And I can always just take a new apprentice.”

“Like my sister?”, I asked.

“Potentially.”

“And what about your parents?”, I turned to Circe.

“They’re fine with it if you come along.”

“I see…”

Mira put down her tea.

“Circe has always wanted to see more of the world. She had simply settled for becoming a [Witch] since anything else was irresponsible and extremely unlikely. Of course, I would have you come by within the year. But she is at the age where village children would leave for the city if they want to make it big.”

I looked at the girl. Her sandy hair was in disarray and her body was still scrawny and childish. Had anyone told me what Mira just said in the life before, I would have called them mad. But she was able to read and do basic maths. And she had a Class ready to be taken.

“Would anyone else come with?”, I asked.

“For the first leg of your trip, that is very likely. One or two hunters and someone to sell our produce and buy necessities. After that, you will be on your own.”

“That would also allow Circe to bail from the long trip after getting a taste of it”, I said.

“Hey!”

“Anyway, that seems reasonable. I don’t know when I’m actually going to leave for the cities, though. I wanted to scout the forest first, after all. And I want to reach at least level 10 in [Witch Apprentice] and potentially upgrade it.”

The two witches looked at each other.

“She would be able to get you there once she has upgraded her Class”, Mira said.

I blinked.

“Yep! I’d been thinking about it. Maybe I can just upgrade like this? I could learn [Brewing] and [Herbalism] as general Skills and take [Ritualism] and [Familiar Bond] for my starting Skills. That would make it a bit difficult to level but it should work. And then I can watch you do witchcraft for your Class experience.”

“So you don’t plan on taking a familiar beforehand?”, I asked.

“No? I don’t need to rush it. Even if there was no chance of us exchanging [Familiar Bond] with each other, I think it’s better to find something, or someone, really suitable.”

“It will slow down her initial development, of course”, Mira said, “but it can pay off in the future.”

“Wasn’t it you who told her to get a familiar before upgrading?”, I asked.

Mira laughed.

“No. I never said that. Even for you, I was not opposed to you taking [Witch] to start with.”

“Right…”

“Make sure to take me with you when you leave, Fio!”, Circe said.

“Only once I make my way towards the human cities.”

She pouted.

“Fine.”

Mira stood up.

“Well, then. Tomorrow will be a long day. Make sure to get plenty of rest you two.”

I bobbed my head and Circe nodded.

“Yes, Master!”, we said together.