Watching Lia work was quite fascinating. I could see how her magic was charging the circle she had drawn and watched as faint lines of it began to sink into the trapped racoon. Her attempt at turning it turned what was a battle between the strange influence of necrotic energy and the vital energies of the racoon into a three-way battle. Or maybe it would be better to describe it as a replacement, the necrotic energies were eroding the vitality of it, and Lia’s vampiric powers started to replace what had been eroded, at least partially.

At the same time, she tore a gash into her arm, letting blood drip out and forcing it into the racoon's mouth. At first, it didn’t look like the raccoon was taking it willingly, but soon, it was greedily lapping at the source.

After a short while, I opened another cut in my hand, letting some more blood pool out while channelling Astral Power into it, before allowing Lia to drink some more. I could see just how hard she was working, trying to control the influx of her powers in a way that would turn the three-way struggle into a victory for her vampiric energies, and by the looks of it, it was working. Not only was the eroded vitality being replaced, but the energy was also starting to infect the vitality it racoon had left, trying to actively turn it. At the same time, with the influx of vampiric energy, the necrotic energies had to work far harder than before in their attempt to erode everything. The erosion took power, quite a lot of it by the looks of it, and Lia was providing too much power for whatever infection was trying to take hold of the racoon.

Interestingly, the racoon seemed to be welcoming the influx of energy from Lia, despite that energy also starting to replace the vital energy that it previously had. I had felt strange energies invading my body while on Mundus, it had never been a really pleasant experience, but here, it might be different. The racoon had enough foreign energy running through its body that I began to worry it would explode if anything were to disturb the slowly shifting equilibrium.

Twice more, I allowed Lia to drink from my hand, refilling her reserves. It might not have been strictly necessary, but I wanted to be on the safe side. She was attempting something we had never tried before and I didn’t want a lack of Astral Power to be the reason that she failed. There were already far too many potential reasons why the attempt might fail, from the rather volatile conflict of energy within the creature, to the creature’s nature. with a few dozen other factors thrown in for good measure. And yet, despite the many factors that might throw off the attempt, it was the first time that Lia felt the potential to try. Or maybe she had just never seen reason to before, I wasn’t sure. And it didn’t really matter.

Either way, she was doing it and as I watched, I was relatively sure she was succeeding.

Finally, the racoon stilled, Lia’s energy now the dominant force within its body, the last vestiges of necrotic energy rapidly fading, alongside the dregs of vitality, mostly concentrated in what I assumed was the digestive tract.

Another Observe, and I knew that she truly had succeeded, the creature now read as a Vampiric Racoon, the label somehow amusing me to no end.

“Can you communicate with it?” I asked Lia, as she pulled her hands back from the changed creature, heavily dropping on her behind as she leaned back, clearly exhausted.

“No, I don’t think so,” she shook her head, before looking down, trying to catch her breath. Not that she really needed to, I was pretty sure she was mostly suffering from mental exhaustion but I knew that spellcasting could be hard, physical work. Though, I would have expected somebody with a fighter’s resilience to be less affected, compared to me with my poor physical attributes. Well, relatively poor, I was likely within the upper percentage amongst spellcasters, thanks to being touched by a dragon but even with it, I didn’t compare to Lia, not even close.

Interestingly, the racoon was clearly watching how Lia and I talked, its head switching back and forth as if listening to the conversation.

“Silva, do you speak trash panda?” I asked, a small grin on my face. Only, it wasn’t Silva who reacted to my words, the little critter let out a chitter I could only describe as angry, staring at me while trying to push itself up from its prone position. At the same time, Silva let out a somewhat annoyed-sounding huff, making me think that she was feeling insulted by the insinuation. Though, to be fair, I wasn’t sure if it was the insinuation that she might be able to speak to it, or that she was unable to do so. One was a potential insult to her species, as it implied sharing characteristics with the racoon, and the other to her intelligence, implying that she couldn’t do so. Sometimes, it was difficult to talk with my canine companion, her answers could be a little short. Barkingly so.

“I guess that gives us something to go on,” Lia grinned, realising that the reaction of the racoon almost certainly meant it was about as capable of communication as Silva, we just needed more time to interpret its expressions.

“Apparently. And it tells us that the racoon doesn’t like to be called a trash panda, which I find rather hilarious. That it is smart enough to interpret language that way, I would love to figure out how it works,” I shook my head, fascinated by the communication ability we were witnessing. “The mind is such a fascinating thing. I wonder…” I mused, thinking about my Mind Magic ability. Would I be able to pull the racoon into some sort of communication space, where we could talk?

I quickly realised that it was unlikely. I might be able to form such a space, though the closest thing I had done like that was pulling other people into the Astral River to commune, but that didn’t mean we would actually understand each other. It might just be similar to the one time Silva had tried to share a notification of hers, giving me impressions that were completely foreign, rooted in a largely different mental architecture.

In response to my musing, the racoon started to chitter again, angling towards Lia who happily started to scratch its back. Its movement was still a little stiff but it didn’t appear as if there was any permanent damage.

“I don’t think it wants you to figure its mind out,” Lia snarked and I realised that the racoon hadn’t just moved towards her but looked almost as if it was trying to find shelter from me. Understandable, people considering how to figure out how somebody’s mind worked was a rather scary prospect. Though, at the same time also an important thing. In hindsight, I could easily appreciate how difficult it had been for my mother to help me understand myself and how to function in a society built for the average person, something I had never been and would never be.

“I think it likes you quite a bit. Maybe it’ll call you mama soon,” I grinned, remembering how Lia had immediately tried to call me her mother. If I had to consider her my daughter, she would have to consider her trash panda her baby.

“Mhm, maybe,” she looked at the furry critter but instead of revulsion, she looked almost content, causing the grin to slip off my face. That, I had not expected. Had I just managed to make myself into a grandmother? I didn’t want to be a grandmother, not for a long, long while. I didn’t even want to be a mother… Or did I? It was an incredibly weird sensation, pressing into my chest and stomach.

“You’ll need a name,” Lia told the critter, still gently petting its fur.

“Start with checking if it’s a boy or girl. Or just suggest names and see what it likes, that’s how Silva got her name,” I suggested, scratching my own partner behind her ears.

Lia did as I suggested, letting the racoon hear name after name, until she got an excited response to the name ‘Alex’.

“You’re Alex, then?” she asked and the racoon chittered again and at least to me, it sounded like a happy, affirmative chitter. I couldn’t be completely confident, but Lia apparently was.

“Maybe the two of you should take a nap, I’m pretty sure you are just as exhausted as your racoon,” I told them, glancing into the sky to estimate the time.

“I’ll keep watch, maybe prepare some food for later. But you need rest, if we want to try getting into my old apartment,” I added, leaning against Silva in an attempt to get comfortable.