//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Of Transitions and future Friendships // Story: Destiny's Call: The tales of a foreigner in a familiar land // by Zenith Starwalker //------------------------------// The next seven days passed by in what felt like half that time. There was never a dull day or night for me in the city of Concordia, between honing my skills with magic accompanied by Luna as my tutor during the early morning hours and moonlight trysts with Daring going about the metropolitan burg, even a couple of visits from Octavia as we chatted in the Royal gardens; I was quite a busy guy. Despite running all over the place and operating at the crack of dawn till well past midnight, it didn’t feel as if I was burning the candle at both ends. I just shrugged it off as some kind of Trifect stamina trait and carried on with the life in the fast lane. All in all I felt… involved for a change, not just with my new commitments but with my life in general. No longer was I feeling malaise at the thought of just trudging through another day filled with meaningless banalities. I now had a direction to work with, even if the portents were ominous in nature. Despite my usual misgivings over repetitive established routines, each day was a unique and enjoyable experience in the grand capital city. Speaking of unique, there was nothing quite like utilizing the forces of magic. I was very much elated by the fact that other than the need to have the power necessary on hand, spells were formulated using imagination and will; two things that I had abundant reserves of. I asked Luna once why the city even had a university for gifted Stellar Mages if harnessing magic was such a simple deployment of one’s own willpower. Her answer revealed to me much of the nature of Arcanians, that a firm resolve was something that every Arcanian actually had to struggle with in order to master; that even the slightest hint of doubt in one’s self could mean the difference between the successful casting of a spell and the backlash that results from magical feedback when the spell is unsuccessfully channeled. Even the clans that didn’t actively cast magic needed to have a strong will in order to best make use of their abilities. So a Valkyrian that steadfastly believed in themselves and aimed to be swift in the air would fulfill their own beliefs much in the same way that a self-fulfilling prophecy functioned. For another example, if an Agrarian were to lose faith in their abilities, their inherent magic would regress and leave them feeling sapped of their strength and natural green thumb. It was something that made me ponder the psychological makeup of this world at large. As for my newfound relationship with Daring? Well, we haven’t taken to calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but apparently she found the nickname ‘Zenny’ to be an appropriate counterpart to my ‘DeeDee’ for her. Whenever she wasn’t consolidating the necessary materials for her next expedition; ‘the big one’ she called it, we were palling around doing the things that a normal couple with a big city as their oyster would do. Walks through the communal park, hikes up to the peak of the mountain that Concordia was located upon, or even just aimlessly wandering through the city. Of course, a lot of those activities ended up with me escorting a piss drunk Daring back from one of the local pubs to her interim residence in the city. She would often make inviting comments with a slurred voice for me to come inside, but I could never in good conscience take her up on them. She would sober up the next morning and apologize about her excessive binging on the hardier drinks, saying something about how dry the outside world tended to be and that she was just ‘stocking up’ on a good buzz. I would always be dismissive of it, but inside I couldn’t help but worry about her possibly self-endangering habits. ⁂ That’s not to say that there weren’t great times spent together, in fact just three nights after the garden party I was waiting at a fancy dining and dancing styled restaurant dressed in a nice tuxedo that the royal tailor managed to whip up for me (Nice guy, though he wouldn’t let me pay him for his work out of reverence for Celestia, who personally referred me to him). I was sitting there drolly thinking about how Daring would be catching everyone’s attention in an unexpected fashion by strutting inside with her safari getup and not a care in the world. So surprise surprise when instead I saw an exceptionally fetching looking woman wearing a black satin dress that hugged and accentuated every curve of her toned body approach my table with a characteristic jaunty grin. “…Wow… you look absolutely stunning tonight” I complimented with complete candor. I wasn’t the only one with their jaw on the tabletop; I saw plenty of other men eyeing my date with jealousy in their countenance and women who either chastised their dates for not paying attention to them or were also green with envy themselves. “You really think so?” She said with a nervous simper atypical of her self-assured mannerisms. “I know so, and everyone else here seems to share my opinion” I emphasized with a nod in their directions, Daring followed it furtively with slight distaste in her features. “Normally I love being in the spotlight, but tonight should be just you and me. C’mon!” She pulled me out of my chair and back out into the city, heading for the docks where her ship was moored. “Why are we heading to your ship?” I asked as I was dragged past bemused bystanders, curious as to her intent. “I want to show you the best view of the whole city, from the air” She replied with an adventurous grin. “Isn’t the whole leaving and re-docking thing a paperwork nightmare to deal with?” I asked, wary of the bureaucracy’s idiosyncrasies, especially those of its head executive who I had yet to meet. “It won’t be a problem if we’re only gone twenty minutes and Gangplank knows how I sometimes like to take the Maverick out for a spin. Besides! Where’s your sense of adventure?” She spoke with a faux chastising tone. I rolled my eyes but agreed anyway, “I’m all for it, but only because it’s you” “That’s the spirit!” We boarded her vessel after covertly loosening the mooring lines. At this hour the docks weren’t very busy, with only a skeleton crew performing maintenance on the various other docked vessels and other upkeep tasks, so it was easy to get by unnoticed. I stood next to the helm while Daring approached the wheel and removed the quatrefoil ignition key from a necklace she was wearing and inserted it into the wheel’s slot. Attempting to keep any undue attention on us to a minimum, Daring twisted the key in a way that guaranteed a slow spin up of the engines. We clandestinely slipped out of the docking areas before Daring fully fired up the engines and we whizzed into the night. We banked into a sharp U turn and cut power to the turbo props once we reached a sufficient altitude overlooking the city below. I stood by the banister railing and took in the sight of Concordia from a bird’s eye view. The lights of the city were illuminating it in a way that I had never seen before, the nightlife in the capital wasn’t particularly active but there was enough activity going on that added to the visual panorama below. The valley beneath the city was also looking resplendent as it caught my attentions. Bathed in the light of the full moon, the river running through the verdant lands appeared almost silvery as its waters shimmered in the distance. A small cluster of lights was positioned in the distance, marking the location of a famous (infamous) village where the Element Bearers resided. I often wondered what its name in this world was, but dissuaded myself from becoming too embroiled in that school of thought. ‘Doubtless I’ll wind up there eventually, but tonight I shall think on it no longer’ I turned to the woman observing the view next to me and gave her an inviting smile as I held out my hand. This night was about us after all. “May I have this dance?” I offered happily. “You may, it’s a shame we don’t have any music though” She accepted with an equally merry grin as I led her onto the main deck where we had our first duet. “That is where you’re wrong. Allow me to show you something cool this time” I closed my eyes and brought forth a set of mental instructions I had committed to memory the morning before when I was experimenting with my magic. Holding my palms together, I began pouring my inner magic into the arcane contrivance until it was fully formed before summoning it with slightly dramatic flair. Hovering just in front of me was snow globe sized sphere that swirled and revolved with strands of white and bluish light. I smiled at my successful summoning while Daring stared at it appraisingly. “I still haven’t quite registered the fact that you’re an actual Trifect, but you’ve certainly got the hang of casting magic quickly” She complimented at my elementary demonstration of conjuration. “Do you like it? I call it the sound and sonancy spell or SASS for short. I originally wanted to name it the audio sphere spell, but the acronym didn’t work out” I explained with a humorous chuckle. “So what does it do? Act as a portable record player?” She ventured a guess. “That and more, it can play whatever I can think up so it’s rather versatile in its uses. I have the perfect song for tonight in mind too” I focused the mental command into the sphere and it changed colors in response as it began filling the air with a melody perfect for this date. I took Daring’s hand and began to lead as we waltzed atop the main deck of the Magnificent Maverick with the twinkling stars just overhead. Despite her gung ho attitude, Daring let me command her movements without so much as a fuss. She looked happy enough just being held as we cavorted across the wooden planks, although that didn’t stop her from giving voice to some curiosities. “So I never knew you could dance, you didn’t seem like the type” ‘She’s one to talk’ “I’m not, but I know just enough to passably get by at high societal functions. But it’s not so bad, as long as I have a dance partner like you at my side” I gave her my equivalent of a content smile. “Let’s not get too sappy all right Zenny?” She replied with a jocose grin as I twirled her during one of the song’s crescendos. “What about you? You seem to be holding your own pretty well for someone who abhors the nuances of high society” I questioned as I held her in a dip. “For practical reasons, if I’m to garner any positive regard from patrons with deep pockets like Fancypants, I’ve got to at least know how to act like one” ‘When in Rome I suppose’ We continued to dance for a while longer until Daring felt that it was time to bring the mighty mav’ home to roost. Because we were not absent for an exceptionally long time, we crept back into port with no one else the wiser. After we secured the sky ship back to its mooring posts, Daring chose to be the one to blitz me with a sudden kiss. She broke it and gave me another one of those delightfully cheery smiles. “I’m glad we’re together” She happily declared as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “Me too Dee, me too” I replied with an equally satisfied smile. ⁂ A small upward wrinkle found its way to my lips as I reminisced about that particular night. I was currently alone in the training chamber furthering my arcane abilities. My tutor Luna had been pleasantly surprised with my progress, saying that the sound and sonancy spell I had created earlier was a completely new innovation in the Arcane arts; the likes of which had not been seen since the days of Starswirl the bearded. A wizened old fellow whose portrait was just shy of being the carbon copy of the wizard Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, the only discernible differences being the bell strung hat and the numerous glass like beads that Starswirl interweaved into his whitish namesake chin locks; each one marking an important event in his long and storied career as the official Archmage of Stellaria (The kingdom of the Stellar Magi before the founding of Arcania) and inventor of practical and functional spells. As for my magic itself, I found that there were a good deal of benefits and limitations as to its usage. I couldn’t go more than forty five minutes of medium tier casting the day after the garden party, but managed an hour and a half the day afterwards, to even three hours the very next day. Luna explained to me that one’s personal magic reserves were not unlike a muscle, and that repetition was the key to developing it and fortifying it. I did this by repeatedly casting projectile spells and using the training room and its many dummies as a shooting gallery. Although as a Trifect, I naturally had a drastically reduced learning curve due to my additional wellsprings of internal magic, so I suppose the rules that applied to Stellar Magi were significantly negated when applied to myself. Since there were only a handful in existence, Luna didn’t have much of a standard to compare it against, the normal parameters of what she thought were possible for me were steadily extending day by day. When I asked how much stronger Trifects were in their abilities on average when compared to the usual Arcanian, Luna told me that it tended to vary but that Trifects were at the very least five times as capable as a typical Arcanian (She was judging this based on my progression so far). I also found out more regarding the nature of thaumaturgy and that it was intrinsically linked to emotion, strong emotions powering a spell gave it a significant kick. But it was also a very dangerous action, high emotional investment in a spell can make it very volatile and even increase the possibility if it breaking free of the control of the caster and causing major damages to both the user and everything around them. The analogy would similar to pouring combustible fuel on a fire, if you poured it all at once then the reaction would be very violent to all in close proximity. I once threw caution to the wind and channeled a pyro kinetic spell using my most hated memories. I nearly burned through the walls surrounding the training room before quickly shutting off the spell; I had only had the spell active for six seconds, significant kick indeed. I also learned a few more things about my Tantō. According to Luna, it was a heavily enchanted object. The first and foremost of which was a ‘Notice me not’ enchantment that kept it all but invisible to the most perceptive of beings when sheathed, some kind of combat amplifying enchantment that augmented my fighting prowess in ways that guaranteed that I could hold my own against multiple opponents, and it also functioned as an ad hoc wand for rapid castings of spells (kind of like an Athame now that I think about it). To make the most of my training in close quarters combat, Luna taught me how to conjure dueling opponents as well. Depending on how much magic I poured into the spell I could alter their choice of weapons, how many hits they could take before being vanquished, and even their competence in combat. I’ve had plenty of sessions using that spell and plenty of sore spots to go with it too, but I was getting better at facing close range opponents. The ones I had equipped with crossbows had a significant advantage over me though, something that I would have to find a crafty remedy for in the future; since my skill with projectile magic wasn’t quite fast enough yet to take on multiple ranged targets. The opponent conjuration spell was considered upper medium tier so it also made for a good magic endurance trainer. My relationship with Luna had also markedly improved since that one Sunday morning. I had actually found out that it was getting close to Fright Night from her excited near ramblings during one of our magic training sessions, meaning that it was the month of October. I was somewhat confused since when I departed my world it was still March, but I shrugged it off and dismissed it as some kind of temporal discrepancy between worlds. Anyway, other than the magical training I was receiving from the Lunar Princess, we were also spending some time together in the realm of dreams. I paused in between my shifting of cyro kinesis to pyro kinesis spells to sublimate a block of ice I had flash frozen just moments before in order to recall the memory of one particular night’s dreaming. ⁂ Whenever I had achieved lucidity in my dreams, I always took full advantage of it. Unceasingly, it always happened in that blank void that I’ve taken to calling the ‘conception canvas’, as it was always ripe for new scenarios and ideas. And I, the dreamer would paint it like an artist would an empty portrait suspended on an easel. That night I was feeling like playing the role of a secret agent sent to obtain vital information held in locked up documents before proceeding to make a punctual escape filled with swashbuckling action that would make any double 0’seven agent bristle with pride. I was all but giddy with anticipation as I snapped my fingers and set up the scene appropriately. Modern buildings burst forth from the darkness as roads were laid down tetris style interspacing the gaps between them. I made the centerpiece of the city a grand casino that was decorated with so many lights that it could have put the entire Vegas strip to shame if it were actually constructed. Content with the architectural décor, I then focused on populating the setting with various characters; adding civilians to the streets going about their business like they would in reality, cars that zoomed up and down the streets before backing up the lanes behind red stoplights, and of course the various patrons arriving at the casino in their fancy cars. Along a similar vein, I conjured up my own ride for the night summoning a sleek and speedy looking vehicle fit for a spy. Back home it would have only been a concept car but I’ll be battered and baked if it didn’t look amazing. Popping open the scissor doors and grabbing a chair, I pushed the ignition button to hear the satisfying startup growl of the five hundred and forty horsepower V10 engine housed behind the seats. Grinning with delight I shifted into drive and floored it, the car shooting off into the roads like it had been kicked with a giant boot. Eager to put the car through its paces, I weaved in and out of traffic like there was a payload in the car that would go off if it ever fell below sixty miles an hour. It may have been the dream physics speaking, but my ride stuck to the road like a wad of gum, making it incredibly easy to cut in and out between the city traffic. Nodding to myself at the completed test run, I imagined myself up a shiny velvet tuxedo and striped slacks with pockets full of gadgets. It was time for the fun to really begin, but just as I was about to spin my ride around in the direction of the casino I heard a distinctive knocking sound coming from all directions. “Come on in! The real fun is about to begin” I spoke and imagined the words, already knowing who was on the other end. A coalescing of darkness in the passenger seat formed to reveal the Princess of the Night, who observed her surroundings with barely concealed stupefaction. Although she pushed aside her confusion in order to address me. “Greetings Zenith, art thou pleased that we ‘knocked’ this time?” I chuckled and imperceptibly shook my head, “Only you would take that request literally Luna. But I’m glad that you’re respecting my personal space anyway” “What manner of transport are we occupying? It has no steeds pulling it” She idly commented, engrossed by the many lights and materials on the dashboard. ‘Oh Luna, you’ve so much to catch up on with your own world’s innovations. Let alone my world’s inventions’ “Using extremely antiquated terms, this is what is referred to as a ‘horseless’ carriage Luna, it has a self-contained engine powering it” “I see” She said pensively, looking out the window as all the other automobiles passed by. I gave her an appraising stare, “You seem to taking all of this in quite well, I was half expecting you to freeze up at the sight of so many lights invading your senses” She looked vaguely insulted as if I had calumniated her honor, “We are of stronger mental faculties than you give us credit for Zenith” She stated with her nose held high in a haughty motion. “Strong enough to avoid blasting a gaping hole in the wall where an activated toaster used to be?” I pointed out with a raised brow. She stammered and her face went flush with emotion, “We told Tia to not breathe a word of that to anyone!” She hissed in frustration. I couldn’t hold back a chuckle at her histrionics, earning another one of Luna’s famous glares for my slip up, “Don’t you worry Princess, your toaster killing secrets are safe with me” “We should hope that they are. Our image as a monarch would suffer terribly if such secrets were to be made public” She professed with crossed arms and sniffed. “Really?” I asked with a skeptical tone, doubtful as to whether such a trivial thing could do any more damage to a former Night Terror sovereign’s reputation. “No… we are simply pulling thy leg, did it work?” She asked with a hopeful tone. “You’ve a ways to go before you’re up to snuff with your sister’s level of ribbing, but it was a good try none the less” I tapped a special button on the wheel, getting a Siri like voice in response, causing Luna to search around the vehicle for the source. “Input voice command” It droned. “Activate Jarvis intelligence program” I commanded as we sped closer to our destination, the windshield then lit up with an information display; accompanied by the prototypical English accent of the classy artificial intelligence. “What can I do for you sir?” It asked in a genuinely helpful tone. “Give us the mission specs please” I politely asked, it may have only been a construct of a dream but that didn’t mean I could simply drop my manners. “Of course sir” Jarvis complied and sent the data onto the screen, Luna was practically mesmerized by the high tech display. “Your mission is to infiltrate the aptly named High Stakes Casino under the guise of a usual attendee, the casino is suspected of being used as a money racketeering front for the well-known extremist organization titled the Aces of Anarchy. If you were to find a way of retrieving sensitive information regarding the organizations activities around the globe, it would strike a major blow to the shadowy syndicate’s endeavors” An insignia of the organization was shown being crossed out. Jarvis continued his briefing, “It goes without saying that the documents alluded to will be under intense security in the forms of both guards and alarm systems. Your objectives this evening are simple if not onerous: Infiltrate the casino which should be straightforward enough with the entrance tokens provided for you, proceed to gather any information you can regarding the whereabouts of the documents, gain possession of the data held within; whether directly or indirectly, and then promptly make your way to the pickup point at the harbor docks” A hologram depicting an open cargo container underneath the mammoth loading cranes marked our end goal. “Right, as for my inventory?” I asked the machine. “Obviously there will be screening at the casino’s entrance so firearms are out of the question, however for personal defense you have been equipped with a special reinforced obsidian blade that modern scanners will not detect” “Obsidian?” Luna expressed with confusion. “Indeed madam, obsidian has an edge so fine that some surgeons even prefer its usage in their scalpels over standard steel. It should give any blighters that come close a right nasty cut or two” Jarvis finished with a macabre chuckle, coming from the refined sounding A.I it ended up sounding more chilling than humorous. “Neat, what else do we have?” I wanted to know what other gizmos my subconscious had decided to issue me with. “In your front vest pocket should be a pocket crawler, it can be used as a means of surveillance for places where you otherwise couldn’t go. Its controls can be found via the crawler app on your wrist watch. It also has a camera function on it and should you stumble across any vital documents just asking for their picture to be taken, then you’ll know what to do” On the screen was displayed a rather spidery looking machine that had multiple photoreceptors dotting its body. “Creepy, but effective enough” I stated with a shrug. “And last but not least are the special contact lenses that come with x-ray function, probability counters, and a multipurpose heads up display. Those will help you blend in with the betting crowds until you can slip away for some good ol’ fashioned espionage” Jarvis then activated the lenses, my ‘vision’ lighting up with a display not unlike the one currently overlapping the windshield dash. “Are all of your world’s spies this well-equipped?” Luna asked, clearly thinking on the implications of what she had seen. “Only the cool ones” I replied with a cheeky grin. “As a last reminder, I can be summoned using the distress function on your watch. Just activate it and I’ll come right quick to pick you up for an easier get away” The aforementioned watch lit up with an exclamation point icon adorning the glass screen. “Sounds good to me” I turned to the Lunar Princess, “Do you want to be actively involved in this or just observe? I could alter it so that no one reacted to you” She gave me an incredulous look, “We would be directly involved of course! We wish to see first-hand more of this world that your mind has so expertly crafted together” We pulled up to the casino driveway in style, drawing the attentions of all the onlookers who couldn’t get access to the prestigious casino building. The scissor doors opened automatically with a showy venting of steam to announce our arrival on the scene. I exited my ride and ambled around the side to offer my hand to Luna and escort her like any proper gentleman would, her face briefly lit up but she accepted it in good grace as we began to walk down the red carpets to the entrance. Photographers were scrambling over each other to get a good angle on the newest and most stylish couple to stride across their apertures. In real life this kind of situation would have been dreadful for me, but since this was a carefully set up dream I decided to roll with it. Luna was looking positively stunning with her light blue sparkling slit dress that drew plenty of attention to her marble smooth legs; I had to consciously resist the urge to admire them as we strolled down the crimson colored rug paving the way to the entrance of the casino. Security was definitely not to be taken lightly, they had all the looks of a private military contractors being paid to stand around and look intimidating. Of course that’s pretty easy when you’re toting around large firearms and look like you have an itchy trigger finger. I passed Luna her token to enter that I had conveniently placed in another one of my vest’s pockets. Luna at first looked confused at what to do, but quickly followed my lead as I handed them to the guy manning the scanners. He visually appraised them before running them under something that reminded me of a barcode scanner, satisfied with their authenticity he handed them back to us and wished us a night of ‘fortune and excitement’ With the first objective out of the way, all we had to do was partake in various casino activities before possibly asking around for games located closer to the backrooms. Or we could just win enough games to automatically move up the ladders and I could ‘excuse’ myself for the restroom to do some surreptitious sneaking. I believed that going for the latter would be easier, not to mention I could show Luna just how people liked to gamble back home. The main casino floor itself was styled after the Bellagio, with French and Italian styles blended together and illuminated with massive crystal chandeliers lining the ceiling. Various well to do individuals crowded around baccarat and blackjack tables and tested their luck against the house. Spotting a roulette table I urged my dumbstruck companion ogling everything in awe to follow me to the tables. “Remember the scenario Luna, we start piling up the wins and attract the attentions of some of the bigger fish. Then I’ll find what we need and we can beat a hasty retreat” “Oh how exciting!” Luna clapped her hands together, “And shall I act as your consort?” She gleefully spoke. I scratched the back of my head in thought, “If you want I guess. The whole ‘eye candy’ appeal would work quite nicely into our dramaturgy and mystique theme” “Excellent, let us commence with the theatrics post haste!” With that sonorous proclamation she latched onto me quite closely, attracting the attentions of some of the casino goers who looked on with covetous jealousy in their eyes. Meanwhile I was wondering if there was an ulterior motive for the sudden intimate contact. ‘Meh, just go with it dude’ And so our first batch of easy money was at the roulette tables with an inexpensive buy in. With my probability counters working full time to anticipate which pockets the ball would land in, we made some fairly quick and easy money. Before our win streak became suspicious we moved on to the next set of games and repeated the sequence until we were rolling in the credits. Luna became something of a personal cheerleader as she sat on my lap for most of the table games. It was difficult to deny that I enjoyed having her presence in my dream when she was adding so much fun loving enthusiasm to it. With the vast amounts of cash that we raked in, we were abruptly approached by a concierge who asked if we were interested in playing some ‘High Stakes’ games upstairs. We agreed and were escorted to some gaudy looking poker room filled with shady characters that my mind randomly generated, one of whom look like the henchman Jaws with an eye patch, which just made me chuckle in amusement. I wasn’t really one for Poker games but the x-ray function on the contact lenses made it relatively easy to call everyone’s bluffs and check when their hands were better. It wasn’t too long before we began stockpiling a large stack of chips. Plus it was my dream, which meant that I was always dealt a decent hand. Soon enough, I began to fidget in my chair like I had one too many drinks and excused myself for the restroom by folding a hand, completing the act by mumbling about how they were crappy cards anyway. Luna joined me after a couple minutes and we snaked our way down the luxurious looking hallways until we found an unmonitored office room that was empty and had an unlocked door. We entered inside and I began searching for a vent to make use of, it may have been cheating a bit but I already had the crawler preprogrammed with the casino’s internal layout. I tapped the map function on my watch and had the hologram projected onto a whiteboard next to the main desk. “Alright Princess, now we are at objective three. So I’ll let you pick the room that the documents are contained in” “Does that not defeat the purpose of finding out the difficult way?” She said skeptically. “Not if you place it in a hard to reach place that’s absolutely covered in defenses, plus I couldn’t really imagine me doing anything but wet work in a secret agent fantasy, most casino goons aren’t witty enough for intelligent interrogation” I retorted, I was all about pursuing the action in my dreams anyway. “Very well, and we are here?” She pointed to the orange dot on the map indicating our location, I responded with an affirmative nod. “Then the documents shall be held here” She tapped a room on the other side of the casino, the one appropriately labeled ‘Vault chambers’. “That should be fun” I dryly commented as I activated the pocket crawler, the disc shaped pocket mirror object sprung to life with its spindly legs and stood silently as though awaiting commands. I dispelled the holographic map and activated the crawler function on my watch, a new holographic display with a screen and joystick was projected onto the flat desk surface where I was sitting. I took control of the crawler and had it infiltrate the ventilation systems, crawling past or disabling such defenses as laser trip wires and spinning fan ducts. Luna stood by and watched with growing fascination at the complexities that my subconscious had cooked up. “Such advanced constructs your world has…” She observed out loud, making me scoff in amusement. “These things do exist Luna, but not for the average person. Most of this stuff is just smoke and mirrors Hollywood type contrivances to make things more interesting” “Does this Hollywood have anything in relation to Arcania’s Applewood?” “I er... doubt it, they just share similar names is all” I had forgotten about that, but at least it’s not some horse pun. I shook myself out of my mental tangent and focused on the crawler, it was growing ever closer to its target after traversing the half dozen ventilation junctions leading to the vault room. The crawler slipped between the gratings of the vent cover and crept along the ceiling panels like the spidery device it was before stopping in the middle to observe its surroundings. The vault chamber itself consisted of dozens of strong boxes, with the documents being held in only one of them. I sighed to myself and began perusing the isles using the crawlers drill function to penetrate the boxes and gain visual access to the contents held within using an extension cord with a camera attached to the line. I listed off the items held inside as I worked my way up and down the rows. ‘This one has gold bullion, this one has priceless jewelry, and this one has… a rubber chicken? My mind can be so random sometimes’ Eventually, I cracked open the right safe and beheld the papers within. A knock at the door followed by the sound of cocking guns told me that we had finally been discovered. I let the crawler do its photo work and send the data wirelessly to me before I had it self-destruct so it couldn’t be caught, and so the small explosion it created would draw attention away from us as we made our intrepid escape. Alarms sounded off and the members of the breaching party outside were distracted for a few precious seconds that we took advantage of by busting out the door and staggering the man behind it. I grabbed his pistol from its holster and emptied it into the other four witless goons too surprised to return fire before striking the man I had borrowed his gun from on the noggin and putting him under. “Such lethal weapons, even our crossbow wielding soldiers cannot kill so quickly” Luna observed with a mix of admiration and aversion to the idea of handheld firearms. “Yeah, well my people have had a history of impressive innovations in the development of lethal weaponry” I handed a pistol to her, which she eyed with detestation. “We do not require such armaments. Our magic is perfectly capable of defending us” “But that takes away from the pseudo realism!” I protested, but Luna would have none of it. I gave up trying to make a secret agent out of her and refocused on our escape plan. The least subtle way out was though the front entrance which was probably in lock down, not to mention heavily guarded as well. Which left us with the options of making our own exit; I checked my vest pockets for anything that could assist in that and found a sizable block of C4 cleverly disguised as multiple cases of breath strips. ‘Wait, is my subconscious trying to tell me something?’ I thought, feeling a little insulted by my own self. My companion and I set off for the loading docks in the back since Jarvis could pick us up there and it would make getting onto the roads easier overall. I grateful that Luna wasn’t wearing heels our this would have gotten a little more harrowing than I would have liked. I put down multiple targets on the way there, though to be honest they weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed and they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from the inside. ‘Heh, just like in the movies’ I mentally chortled. We made our way to the casino’s loading zone and past all of the crates stacked on the scaffolding to the metal gates where the semis would off load their cargo of casino equipment and other items. I set up the C4 block and was just about to insert the automatic blasting cap when I heard Luna gasp in surprise. I spun around with my gun held level as I took in the sight of the chief security agent holding the Princess in a hostage grip with the barrel of his pistol pressed firmly against the side of her head. “Drop your weapon or the lady dies!” He threatened. I did so reluctantly, kicking it away from myself as he additionally demanded and holding my hands up. The man loosened his grip on the Princess and exposed just enough of his neck to allow me to unveil the ace hidden up my sleeve. I aimed accordingly and flicked the switch on my wrist. The spring loaded mechanism launched my obsidian knife from its sheath and promptly created a large slit in the man’s jugular as it soared straight on through, which he weakly held before collapsing in a heap of blood and death. I walked up to the corpse to deliver a cliché but necessary post mortem one liner. “Enjoy your severance package” “How can you be so casual about killing? None of our subjects have had dreams this violent since… the time of my corruption” The Princess finished lamely, her last statement drawing her into a momentary bout of guilty introspection. I shrugged noncommittally, “I played a lot of violent video games when I was younger, and it left a sort of taint on my imagination. I’m naturally not a violent person though, it’s not like I go seeking bloodshed or anything” I walked over to the demolition charge and finished inserting the blast cap. Since it only had a ten second fuse time, I mentally commanded the scenario to pause before approaching Luna and gently cradling her hands in mine. Also summoning some cover for us as a good measure against the blast that was soon to follow. “You shouldn’t always let the past sour your good mood Princess. That was another time and most importantly another you. Tell me, are you doing everything you can to make amends to those you have wronged? Even if it be only to their memory?” She meekly nodded, “Have you vowed to never again let the venom that seemingly ultimate power offers seep into your heart?” She gave a stronger nod this time. “Then I say that makes you a penitent person Princess. Now c’mon, don’t you wanna see how secret agents make a high speed escape?” I gave her a roguish grin. She looked at me with misty eyes and smiled, “We would very much like to see that Zenith” “Splendid! You might want to cover your ears though” On cue the C4 detonated and created a large opening in the solid steel gate large enough for us to squeeze through. I tapped my watch a couple times in order to summon Jarvis, within a half minute or so of waiting our ride pulled up and swung its doors open to let us in. “Hello again agent! I see you have the data we need, uploading it to the cloud drive now” The artificial intelligence cheerfully chirped as we took our seats. “Yeah that’s peaches Jarvis, can we get going now?” I asked impatiently, chase scenes make me antsy for some reason. “You are the driver are you not sir?” Was the machine’s riposte. “Oh… right, buckle up Luna. Things are about get high octane” With that I slammed on the accelerator and sped out of the loading zone, heading for the city streets leading to the highway and from there our end goal at the city docks. “Before I forget. Jarvis, initiate Spybreak program” The artificial intelligence complied and pure awesomeness filled the cabin of the car. Of course, right at this time was when the bad guys appeared in the rearview driving menacing looking muscle cars armed with bull bars and low caliber machine guns. Guns that promptly started shooting once we were in range, but because this was a spy car however; most of the rounds were stopped by the cars advanced ballistic armors and bullet proof glassing. But the vehicle could only take so much punishment before its defenses failed. I felt like I needed to even the odds a bit and rack up another spy chase cliché by pressing the button that left a trail of razor sharp tacks in our wake. One unlucky car spun out of control as it tires popped and plowed into an empty city fabric store. I mentally kept the traffic to a minimum to reduce the hassle it would take to both dodge incoming cars and bullets. “We still have four cars hot on our tail agent, may I make a suggestion?” The machine inquired. “I’m all ears!” I shouted as I swerved onto the highway entrance ramp, our pursuers nipping at our heels and letting the lead fly whenever they could. Despite the dangers, Luna looked like she was having the time of her life, evidenced by the ecstatic grin on her face as we banked in between the various car lanes. “It may be a bit risky, but the oncoming traffic lanes should weed out a couple of them” Jarvis ventured his radical idea. “Sounds hazardous, I like it!” I wrestled the wheel to the left and mowed down some traffic cones marking a break in the concrete highway divider as we began carving up the other side of the road English style. The rapidly approaching cars honking and deviating out of the way. As Jarvis predicted, two of our pursuers lacked the reflexes to dodge traffic and ended up getting into headlong collisions that ended their hunt for us early. The pursuer closest to us began trailing us directly before putting the pedal to the metal and ramming us from behind, the jolt rocking us in our seats and making a sizable dent in the rear bumper. “You did NOT just damage my car!” I hit the switch on another defense mechanism to respond in kind, a couple flaps in the taillights opened up and unleashed their deadly payload of high explosive missiles. They tore into the offending car and lit it up in a colorful explosion of metal and fire. The remaining car observed what happened to its comrade and backed down, finally realizing that chasing this ride wasn’t conducive to its passenger’s health. We reached the docks without further disturbances and drove into the open cargo container that promptly sealed itself up. Jarvis displayed a congratulatory ‘mission accomplished!’ message on the screen along with fitting credits music before the surroundings dissolved into the blank void fog once more. I sighed in self-satisfaction while Luna voiced her own gratification. “Huzzah! We haven’t had that much fun since last Fright Night!” This time she clapped her hands together and jumped in place. “I’m glad you had fun Luna” I spoke with sincerity before unexpectedly being embraced by the happy monarch. “Oh we must do this again sometime; we had no idea that learning about your world’s oddities and customs could be so engaging!” “Err right… customs. And anytime Princess, just don’t forget to knock!” I smirked at the excited woman as I returned the slightly awkward hug. ⁂ That was a few nights ago, I haven’t seen Luna since then because of some Fight Night preparations that she was making which involved visiting cities and towns all over Arcania to supervise festival arrangements. This left me to practice magic all by my lonesome, not that I really minded since I had a pretty good handle on it by now. Whenever I wasn’t in the training room slinging around magic, I was up in Twilight’s tower reading whatever books caught my interest. Including a few saucy ones that I found hidden behind more scientific books, I kept that information in reserve in case I ever felt like getting a rise out of the librarian once I met her. All the pyro kinetic spells I’d been throwing around for the last few hours had really worked up a good sweat, I was just about to head to the palace washrooms and cool off when a scroll that smelled faintly of cotton candy materialized out of thin air and hovered directly in front of me. I sighed to myself at this inevitability and cautiously opened it, the distrustful part of me was fully expecting the scroll to suck me into it. But my fear was unwarranted as no such thing occurred once I broke the candy wax seal and unfurled the parchment to read its message. Inside were several crossed out words that were replaced others the writer felt were more ‘appropriate’. Greetings Sir and or Madam Your presence has been urgently requested by the eminent lord of the bureaucratic chaotic realm of paperwork and regulations. Please make your way to the southern bastion of the castle at your earliest convenience… preferably right now. Signed Your friendly avatar of chaos! (management) The message then decided to self-destruct into a puff of confetti, followed by a party horn noise that reminded me of a specific portion of the second portal game where the main antagonist was trolling the player, as always. I was hoping to avoid meeting this particular character for several reasons, the first and foremost was that he was never to the point and always annoyed the crap outta me when I saw an iteration of him as Q. But I suppose an entire week of not getting pulled into his madness was good enough for a start, although I had to actively avoid Blueblood who was snobbishly demanding to challenge the guy who the guards had started referring to as a ‘real Prince’ to a duel to the death. That guy also happened to be me, apparently not being a huge dick to everyone I crossed paths with and keeping to myself instead of ragging on every person I felt was beneath me was enough to start earning some respect from the palace guards. Or at least seem more of a Prince than that insufferable and spoiled prick could ever be. ‘Respect is a relative concept I suppose’ I mentally shrugged to myself before getting a move on to the southern bastion of the castle. Living here for a week (as well as an ancient looking map I found in my tower) made navigating throughout the castle a cinch. It had an odd pattern about it once you got into the swing of things. I meandered down the many halls and corridors until I wound up in the portion of the castle dedicated to governmental matters. This section of the palace was always filled with a good deal of people going about their business or filing a concern of some kind. In a way it kind of reminded me of the Ministry of Magic; it was huge, crowded, and not particularly efficient in its dealings. A couple of advance lookouts spotted me and pointed me in the direction of the lord of bureaucracy’s domain, which meant more stairs to my dismay. I begrudgingly ascended them and came across a wooden door with what sounded like muffled music coming from within. It opened itself up for me to reveal a fantasia like setting, shelves upon shelves of dusty files and papers being tended to by an army of animated brooms with arms. Their movements were being coordinated by a strangely dressed man with a familiar snaggletooth jutting out from his lip and disarrayed grayish white hair on his head. His apparel consisted of a mishmash of coats, boots, business shirts, bathrobes, and an upside down dichromatic tie. The guy was a certain fashionista’s worst nightmare, and there he was happily humming away as he conducted his symphony of organized chaos. I was just about to turn heel and leave when I saw that the door that had let me in had decided to sprout legs and walk out of its own self (a very mind warping thing to witness). “Leaving so soon? But we haven’t even conversed yet! Where are your manners my dear boy? Have you left them back in your home dimension?” The Lord of Chaos chuckled as he levitated his chair to face me. “My apologies, mummy told me not to talk to strangers. And you sir are the very definition of strange” I quipped in response. “Oh don’t be so contrary! Have a seat” A chair swept me up from behind and slid me uncomfortably closer to the man with red and yellow eyes. “Can I interest you in refreshments? A chocolate milk of glass perhaps? It's nutritious!” He conjured up said drink and down the whole glass (quite literally) before crushing the remaining column of milk against his head like a soda can and tossing it into a waste bin that lit up with a ‘three pointer’ immediately afterwards. “Err… I’ll have to politely pass on that. I was just wondering what you summoned me here for” I said with mild bemusement at his antics, the dude sounded just like John De Lancie. “For many reasons! Most of them having to do with intense curiosity with this world’s first male Trifect and to see if he isn’t as much of a killjoy like his compeers” “Is that all?” I raised my brow. “Well… that and I wanted to ask a favor of you” He stared at me with that manic grin that grew more and more unsettling the longer I was in the same room as him. “A favor?” I expressed with disbelief, “What could a powerful individual like yourself possibly need a favor with?” “Correspondence of course! Do you have any idea how difficult it is for a person of my status to get a letter and a gift to his first and only real friend?” “I’m guessing it can’t be too difficult, you have magic after all” I said with a healthy amount of sarcasm. He frowned momentarily, “Normally I would agree with you, but since those buzz kill Princesses are monitoring my every expenditure of magic with absolute strictness, I’m not able to make use of such powers” “You couldn’t just utilize the mail system in place?” I reasoned. I really didn’t want to become a glorified delivery boy for this guy. “And have to fill out dozen and a half forms authorizing its delivery and evaluation for any errant chaos magic that could wreak havoc at any time? Not to mention having to wait weeks for it to finally be sent out? I think not” The chaos man groused with considerable irritation before literally turning his frown upside down. “Of course, there’s nothing in the rules saying that I can’t make use of a third party to deliver it for me!” “What makes you think I’ll be leaving Concordia any time soon?” I regarded him with ample amounts of suspicion. “I believe a certain Princess will be notifying you soon enough… among other things” He wore that devious grin yet again. “And does that have anything to do with you per chance?” He held up a hand to his chest in mock surprise, “Moi!? Of course not, she was going to send you off anyway. I merely decided to alter the way she was going to tell you by slipping something into her morning tea” At the look of alarm on my face he hastily added a corollary, “Nothing that would be harmful for her, scout’s honor! It would merely alter and enhance existing sentiments she has regarding you” The mischievous grin plastered all over his face did not make me feel any more reassured. Anticipating my next question he shook his finger, “Ah ah ah! You’ll have to find out for yourself buddy boy! So whataya say? Will you help out a poor overburdened Lord of Chaos keep in touch with a good friend?” He flashed me a pearly smile, although the snaggletooth kind of took away from its charm. “Since you asked so nicely, sure” My nice guy disposition won out over my reasonable distrust of the wacky bureaucrat. He laughed heartily, “I knew you were different! Much more agreeable than those old nags I’d say” He snapped his fingers and an envelope and a calendar appeared in front of me which I took hold of. “In what bizarre world would a calendar make a great gift?” I voiced my criticisms. “Meh, it’s the thought that counts. I couldn’t really think of anything she wanted so I randomly selected something, and that something was a calendar. Is that a problem?” His censorious stare could have penetrated solid steel if he meant it to. “Nope, just thinking out loud is all” I innocently stated as I put the items away on my person. He chuckled, “I know exactly what you mean, now off with you! I’m busy doing the fish stick and it’s a very delicate state of mind!” He snapped his fingers again and the chair I was sitting on lifted off like an ejection seat out of the chamber’s open skylight, gravity soon caught up with it and it began descending back to Earth. I summoned my wings to avoid being dragged into the plunge and gently glided back down to the palace grounds. I landed with gracefulness and shook my head, muttering to myself about nutty chaos avatars. I was dusting myself off for good measure when my name was called by one of the palace servants. I was told that my presence was requested by the Solar Princess and that I needed to get there sharpish. I warily agreed and took off in search of Celestia’s balcony, keeping my wits about me as I landed. Her balcony doors were opened and a strange scent that I couldn’t quite place drifted past my nostrils. Whatever it was, it was aromatic and set off more than a few warning alarms in my head. Against my better judgment, I made my ingress into the monarch’s room. I didn’t instantly regret it, quite the opposite actually. Sprawled seductively across a large floor cushion was the Princess, who looked like she was eagerly awaiting my arrival. She still had her royal regalia on but her outfit was much more revealing, consisting of a nightgown that covered just enough but left plenty of room for the more active imagination to fill in the rest. She was also missing a brassiere, which I was very quick to take notice of. She could have competed with Aphrodite herself for the title of ultimate seductress with the sheer sultry aura that she was radiating. “Hello handsome, come to pay your monarch a visit?” She sensually spoke with a lascivious grin. “I’m pretty sure you requested my presence Princess” I said as I fidgeted in place, whatever was in that infuriating incense was slowly eroding at the fortress of my integrity. “You look anxious, why not sit here by the fire with me and relax? Allow me to relieve you of those bothersome clothes” She suggested as she patted the spot next her, it did look pretty inviting… ‘No! Dammit, I’ve got to get out of here before I lose the coherency to do something about this!’ With some considerable effort I turned and made for the entrance I came in from when a golden aura slammed it shut and locked it tight. The aura also shielded the rest of the room against any teleportation attempts as well, which had me all but trapped me in the clutches of the insanely hot ruler right at that point. “Oh you’ve decided to stay? How absolutely wonderful!” She got up from her spot and slinked closer to me, I immediately looked upwards to avoid the spell her ample bosom would have placed on me if I beheld them. “Cease being so modest Zenith! Do I not entice you? I know you certainly have an appeal about you” She whispered in my ear as she made a teasing grasp at my manhood, making me inhale sharply. “You’re not in your right mind Princess; I should leave before we do something we’ll both end up regretting” I tentatively spoke, my moral resistance was putting up a hell of a fight but if I didn’t do something soon it would eventually crumble. “And just how would you do that? It would appear as if this room has been magically shielded against all conventional exits” She confidently spoke while gazing into my eyes with a sly leer. She looked like a predator about to pounce on her next meal… namely me. “I suppose I’ll just have to get creative then” I remarked with a husky growl as my mind worked overtime to find a way out of this fustercluck. I didn’t have a brain blast but the resourceful boys in the vamoose department came up with a crackerjack and radically different escape plan. I focused all of my considerable arcane reserves into a dual spell, one would reverse the effect of gravity on my body and the other would temporarily make me ethereal and therefore intangible. In my desperation though, I may have put a bit too much power into the reverse gravity spell, because once I cast it I shot into the ceiling and the subsequent sky like I had a jetpack attached to me. Regardless of anything else, I was finally free of the confinements of the temptress currently in the guise of the laudable Princess of Arcania. I pumped my wings for all they were worth to put some distance between myself and the lusty sovereign. The frustrated screech that assaulted my ears only moments afterwards simply provided more motivation for me to get the hell out of there. ‘I swear the next time I run into Discord I’m going to strangle him with his own necktie!’ I swore under my breath as I took in the sight of the Princess giving chase. I flew faster than I ever had before as the Princess tracked my every move across the premises of her castle, I swooped in between the many spires and towers hoping to shake her off but the millennia old monarch had a good deal more flight experience than me and was steadily catching up. I needing to find a way to return her to her senses or I would be assailed by the crazed woman. Despite the predicament I was in, I couldn’t help but wonder what the expressions of the guards patrolling the airways were as they watched me play predator and prey with their half-naked and clearly horny liege. I had no time to further that line of thought as the Princess was only a few scant feet away from her prize, I had one last idea that I hoped would save my bacon as I descended into a death dive towards the waterfalls that cascaded from underneath the castle. My last gambit was admittedly last ditch but I was out of viable options. I passed through the falls and was drenched in its cold waters, unfortunately I was all out of room to maneuver and the equally doused Princess behind me caught me in a tackle. We tumbled onto the walkways lining the grottos next to the falls and wound up in a rather precarious position with me being pinned to the floor and her Royal Majesty straddling yours truly. My eyes snapped shut; I gulped nervously and congratulated myself for the admirable effort before accepting my fate of a potentially fractured pelvis. That was when I heard the confused if not lovely voice of the Princess speak to me. “Zenith? What just happened? And why am I soaking wet?” ‘Context is key, context is key, context is key’ I repeated my mental mantra to avoid getting aroused before explaining to the Princess that she was recently besotted with me, keeping my eyes shut all the while. “To make a complicated story short, sweet, and simple; your minister of the bureaucracy slipped something into your tea this morning that made you get the hots for me. You lured me into your chambers and tried seducing me with your scantily clad wiles; I escaped and was chased by you thoroughly, with my last and only idea of returning you to your senses with cold water appearing to have succeeded” “I see… I’ll have to have a long and very rigorous talk with him” “Slap him across the face with a mackerel, it’s what I’d do” I recommended, still smarting about the situation the madman had just put me through. “I don’t think the mackerel deserves to be wasted on the likes of him; perhaps I’ll just double his workload instead” She said with a melodious giggle. ‘Oh, burn…’ “Uhm… Princess? You can get off of me now” “Hmm? Oh! Of course, my apologies Zenith” She removed herself from my person in a suspiciously hesitant manner. “Are you decent? I don’t want to intrude upon your modesty” My eyes flashed with a golden light and I opened them, the monarch of Arcania was clothed once more in her regal Stola. I sighed in relief, the ordeal was finally over with. “I must commend you, Zenith. I’ve not met many individuals who would turn a blind eye at the chance to behold their Princess’s physique” I got up and dusted myself off for the second time that day, “I was raised better than that your Highness, though that isn’t to say that I wasn’t sorely tempted. You are an incredibly beautiful woman as you no doubt know” I may have been imagining it, but I could have sworn that the ghost of a blush tinted her cheeks. “I am aware, but I appreciate your input regardless of that. My most virtuous and noble Prince” She beamed a charming smile my way. “You know I don’t much care for that title right? Do I have to be officially coroneted? Because I’d really like to skip that and keep my sense of discretion intact” She apologetically shook her head, “I can’t keep the knowledge of your position as a Trifect hidden forever Zenith, eventually you will have to be recognized as one of Arcania’s heads of state” I hummed with malcontent, “But do I have to be broadcasted at one of those big ceremonies where everyone will have their eyes on me?” “I know from your memories that you shun public attentions directed towards you, but you can’t keep to yourself all of your life Zenith. It’s not healthy and it is not the Arcanian way, one day you will have to step into the light” We had been having memory exploring sessions in my mind many times over the course of the week, with Celestia learning more and more about me as a person. But this was the first time that she had voiced her opinions on what she witnessed. I wasn’t happy by any stretch, but I relented to her judgment. “Very well Celestia, I’ll go along with it. But if I have to get dolled up or anything like that then I’ll disappear faster than those desserts that I fetched for you the first day we met” The monarch had the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed before nodding in concurrence. “Your memories also revealed something I found highly discouraging. Your lack of firm friendships throughout your life is only outclassed by your indifference to your own social destitution” She almost sounded mournful, as though the idea were just as dolorous as the weapons of mass destruction that my people could annihilate each other with the mere figurative push of a button. “I’m more of a solitary person anyway, so what?” I asserted, knowing where this conversation was going but being difficult anyway. “Solitude will get you nowhere fast Zenith, by depriving yourself of fulfilling relationships with others you’ve not only been missing out on meaningful bonds with people, but the magic that flows through this land as a result of that and keeps us prosperous and strong” She explained, gesturing to the grassy valleys below and more subtly to a certain village in the distance. “The magic of friendship right? Forgive me for sounding like a complete cynic, but I’ve never believed in that malarkey before and I still don’t now” I crossed my arms together for additional defiance. “Then I suppose my prudent decision to send you to Magiville to remedy that outlook was not erroneous” ‘Is that what it’s named here? It’s almost as eponymous!’ “I guess I can’t fight you on this” I sighed exhaustively, “When do I get shipped out?” “My faithful student has been busy with her studies and reports, but I believe she should be free to receive you the day that Fright Night occurs” That wasn’t for a few days at least. “You’re not gonna make me write friendship reports are you?” I inquired with my most downtrodden expression available; I even got my lip to quiver for additional effect. She laughed well naturedly before speaking, “You won’t, but Twilight will be sending me reports of your progress. She was similarly hermetic before learning the importance that good friendships instill in one’s life. You’ll be in capable hands I assure you. Now come along, my guards will be wondering what happened to us and I don’t want them to stress too much over our absence while we converse at their expense” As I walked with her to the stairs leading back into the castle I couldn’t help but wonder. I couldn’t just be staying with Twilight to learn about the ‘wonders’ of friendship, I’d no doubt rotate with each of her friends to learn more about their virtues and how to be similarly inclined. ‘Does this mean I have to bunk with members of the main six?’