Ghost And The Writer

Mandy slowly opened her eyes at the same time August did. She flushed red while August merely averted his eyes and let go of her hand.

"Morning," August said.

Mandy floated higher up and nodded. "Morning," she mumbled.

Being that close to any guy would have been fl.u.s.tering no doubt, Mandy reassured herself, calming her own ghastly heart. As she snapped out of any passing drowsiness she noticed something being very different. Her head was now clearer than it had been over the past several years. She felt light. Even if she was weightless as she was, she felt as if she had dropped a dozen of invisible kilograms off her shoulders.

"Feeling better?" August asked, turning his eyes back towards her.

Mandy nodded. She did. "Thanks."

August nodded as well, as if that had been only natural, and sat up.

"You could have said something, though…" Mandy let out a small complaint. He had dragged her to sleep completely out of blue, not to mention… didn't he say she shouldn't try to sleep together with him? There being side effects and all.

"Felt too tired." He said, scratching his own head.

"Yes, that might have taken some time to explain," Mandy nodded, choosing to let go of it. 'Come sleep with me' wouldn't have cut it, rather - made it harder. She could understand that much.

August nodded.

"I could sleep with you," Mandy felt her own cheeks burning up at the wording, even though it wasn't meant in THAT sense – "because of that po-- concoction, right?" Mandy asked.

"Yes, otherwise you would be stuck in my dreams and that wouldn't be of any use to you," he confirmed.

There had been something of 'trapping other astrals in our bodies' talk before, but it seemed like it was just about being stuck in dreams, not being stuck in general, or perhaps those were one and the same? Mandy made a faint nod.

"While it is called a dreamless sleep concoction, we still dreamt, just at a deeper level so there was no overlap either of us could slip into. Had it been truly dreamless, it wouldn't have done either of us any good," August said. Mandy could trace a hint of disapproval in August's voice. "In other words, the concoction has an inaccurate name. It's named like that, because it's targeted at those having intrusive nightmares that hinder getting a proper night's sleep, or so one Alchemist excused the naming."

Well if there was one thing August stressed over then that was the proper use of words. For some reason. Mandy welcomed hearing an elaboration and it did feel like lately, he had been speaking a lot more to her. Mandy felt happy about that fact. And from the way he spoke, it was apparent that he had made the sleeping potion for her sake, rather than passing out on his own. A soft smile settled on her lips. "Thanks, I feel way better than I did in the past several years."

August averted his eyes and scratched his head again, seeming troubled. "Hope it evens out some of the… stuff, you went through," he said.

"It does, so don't worry about it!" Mandy said, trying to reassure. She had asked to help herself, so there was nothing he should feel guilty about.

Either way, she decided not to think about the stuff she saw back there and since she wouldn't be seeing any nightmares, the memories would likely fade. She had helped all those people to pass on. Experiencing some awful illusions that didn't even actually harm her felt like a small price for breaking many many people out of an awful place like that.

Her thoughts lingered at the very end. To think they would turn into birds, though… how curious. Why hadn't she turned into one? Not then, but before, back when she had died. Not that she wanted to. Even like this, she liked being alive.

August looked at her intently and his expression lost its troubled edge. Mandy felt glad her words appeared to reassure him somewhat.

Rather than dwelling on that, there was something more interesting to ask about: "Do all souls turn into birds?"

August's eyes narrowed for a mere moment and then he turned his eyes to the window. "Do you mean to ask why you didn't end up being one?"

Mandy startled a bit at the way he connected the dots so easily. "Mhm. Well, I can't say I'm not curious."

August thought for a bit. "It's because you chose to die by your own free will."

Mandy's eyes widened, she was at a loss of words. She had died while pushing someone else away from harm, it's not like she killed herself... "I wouldn't call that..."

August seemed to realize his wording hadn't been a good fit. "Not suicide. You did something you knew would kill you for some reason other than wishing to die. Ghosts born from suicide keep their dying wounds."

Mandy shuddered, trying not to imagine how she might have looked had it been suicide. That would make some ghosts look rather gruesome. Doing something she knew would kill her was accurate, though. Certainly not because she wanted to die. Mandy felt oddly exposed realizing that he had known something like that all along. Yet that said, he hadn't worded it as 'dying for someone's else's sake', so he wouldn't be able to guess what had been her reason.

"Do you want to pass on?" August asked, turning his eyes back at her. His expression seemed blank, hard to read.

Mandy felt like he was hiding something, but there was no way she could guess what so she didn't even try to. Would he be sad if she said 'yes'? A silly consideration, when the truth was: "No."

Mandy felt like there was a trace of relief passing his expression, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking on her part. She didn't want to read into it only to be disappointed afterward.

"If you ever do end up feeling like it, then go to any forest at night and seek out a white plant, Indian pipe or a corpse flower, then look around for the next one and go to that one and so on, eventually you will pass the gate to the boundary. Yet that said, if you really pass the gate, then walk through the boundary without turning back otherwise that huge tentacle dog will tear you apart and then you will never reincarnate."

Mandy made a slow nod. Why had he told her something like that? Even if she had said she had no interest in passing on. Mandy opened her mouth but swallowed her question. All the while he was still speaking with that blank expression, not letting her on what his thoughts or feelings were on the matter. Unfair. If he hid his emotions, then asking about them felt like prying.

She felt like the method had been mentioned before... "Like old deities?"

"You aren't all that different from them on a structural level," August said, this expression easing into something more casual. Like there wasn't anything he particularly needed to hide anymore.

Being compared to a deity could be a compliment, but it felt a bit more like an insult now that she thought back on the way that many-eyed slug creature had looked.

Almost as if sensing her trail of thought, August continued. "Careful with accepting gifts, you might start changing in odd ways, like grow extra eyes, for example."

Erk. Mandy shivered. "Do I become a deity when I accept gifts?" A frightening idea. She didn't want to grow an extra eye or… had the creature from the previous day looked like a human once?

August shrugged. "As far as this side is concerned you are classified as Ureal Astral thus something that can take on the functions of a deity if you start accepting offerings and answering to pleas of those sacrificing to you."

The idea felt scary. Maybe she had already accepted a gift, but now that she thought of it – neither August nor Tia had really gifted anything to her. Not that you would randomly gift things to others. If there was something odd: perhaps the way August just casually had her order things by herself had been too careless seeming, too trusting. Not too against August's personality by itself, maybe, but perhaps that had been more deliberate than she had thought. "You had me order things by myself for that reason?"

"Partly," August replied.

Mandy didn't have to ask to know the other part of it – too bothersome, no time, or something along those lines. Yet, that did explain something. August's mom was a ghost, right? Wouldn't it be hard for a child to avoid gifting anything to their mother. "Is your mom fine in that sense?"

August looked sideways. "Well, she likes being a muse of creative arts."

So she wasn't. Mandy didn't have to guess how that happened. The first things kids gifted their parents after their own poop were drawings, little August likely also gifted her stories. Since it seemed like August's family were readers, his parents likely praised him for that too and that probably caused a loop of sorts.

Mandy thought she wouldn't mind being something like that either – for a reader it was almost a blessing to be something that promotes writing. Although the way August looked sideways at it implied that maybe there were some drawbacks to being that way.

Before she could ask, the doorbell rang.

August looked surprised for a moment, then a recollection hit him and his expression instantly turned sour. He drew a breath, let out a sigh and sluggishly stood up, walking towards the door.

The bell rang again.

Mandy figured she might as well put the water to boil. It was only polite to offer some tea or coffee to a guest.

"Morning!" Came a cheerful voice, as August's sister came in, passing August by.

August didn't seem to reply, but Mandy did. "Morning."

"Right, I forgot to introduce myself yesterday – Sarah," the girl said, putting a basket down on the table.

"Mandy," the ghost shared her name, but then added, "Ah – would you like coffee or tea?"

"Black coffee would be good," Sarah said and opened the top of the basket revealing the sight of scones and other pastries.

August took a seat at the table, expression still sour and scrunched up. He seemed to have resigned to his fate of needing to listen to Sarah.

August usually had coffee too, so Mandy made twice the usual amount.

"So, what's the mess you got into this time?" August asked, casually taking a scone.

Mandy didn't think people accepted things from people they actually hated that easily, so that was a reassuring gesture. Despite his expression, he didn't seem to actually hate Sarah.

"It's not that I got into it… more like – a human kid became a boundary gatekeeper on his own," Sarah replied with a wry smile.

August's sour expression changed to that of disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I did tell it was a pinch. From the way it looks, it seems like if we let him settle into the role he would be fine, but y'know, there is only one way for a mortal to become a gatekeeper, and ~something~ is after him now," Sarah said, emphasizing that 'something' with a roll of her eyes.

August drew a deep breath. "You know there is no way I can face a $#%^&%$$ and survive,"

Mandy startled hearing the strange sound August made. What? It almost seemed as if a scene of foggy forest and dark mist passed her mind and the image of the same tentacle dog settled in. The one who would tear her apart if she went to pass on but changed her mind. The previous conversation she had had with August shed light on what had happened. Had the creature they met yesterday been seeking for the same kid? Yet, seriously how had august made those sounds just now? Magic words?

Sarah didn't seem surprised by the sounds August had uttered and continued. "No, you don't need to do that per se. Violet has already got a Hollie on the task of connecting the kid with songlies, we just need someone who can speak their tongue and set some barriers."

Mandy had finished making coffee, so she passed the two mugs.

August still had a half-eaten scone in his hand, so he didn't take the mug, but Sarah did with an acknowledging nod and smile. A lot like August usually did, except August didn't follow it up with a smile.

Yep, these two were similar, Mandy made a small mental note. She was still curious about what August had just said/conveyed or - the sounds he made - but it wouldn't be good to cut in. Hollie was a creature that had attacked Tia and 'songlie' was a new name. August could apparently speak with these songlies and set barriers.

"I get that the kid is in trouble, but how are you in a pinch?" August switched to ask.

"We will get to that shortly," Sarah said, averting her eyes.

August squinted at that, then switched to ask: "And who is paying you?"

"Violet," Sarah replied.

August let out a short breath, by appearances that name gave some assurance. "And what is your task in this?" He asked.

"Getting you in the plan," Sarah replied.

August breathed out with a wry smile. "A pinch indeed…" he rolled his eyes. "Oh, and what is she offering me in exchange?" August asked, crossing his arms.

"A billion." Sarah dropped the number without batting an eyelid.

August choked on the scone.

"And you'll get a true faerie as a bodyguard, in case something happens. Silver rank."

August gulped down some coffee to clear his throat. He seemed dumbfounded.

"I guess the number I dropped as irresistible for you seems accurate?" Sarah asked with a smug expression.

For the first time throughout their interaction in front of Mandy, August let an actual smile slip. "...If you weren't so reckless I would employ you as my agent."

Sarah returned the smile. "Does that mean I'm not in a pinch anymore?"

August leaned on his palm, thinking for a bit. "It almost feels as a rip-off, unless there's something… why is Violet that concerned with the kid?"

"No idea." Sarah shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, what's the side-effect to that faerie?" August asked next.

"Loneliness," Sarah replied.

A glimpse of recognition passed August's eyes. "Alice?"

Sarah showed a hint of surprise. "Oh, you've worked with her before?"

"A few times."

"How is she?" Sarah asked, taking a scone. Her eyes wandered to Mandy and she offered her hand, exactly in the same manner how her siblings had before.

Mandy made a grateful nod and took the extended hand. As soon as Sarah bit in, Mandy could feel the sweet taste of chocolate surrounded by a freshly baked bread. Delicious~!

"No nonsense and efficient," August said, giving only a passing glance to Sarah's and Mandy's exchange.

Mandy meanwhile tried to piece things together. Too many variables. The only thing she could conclude was that August would be taking the job most likely, cooperate with some creatures called songlies, earn a huge pile of money and will get a bodyguard, in case the tentacle dog attacks. Would she be going along with him? Mandy wanted to. Not because she was a fan of getting into trouble, just that it all seemed so very new and exciting.

"Pity she's a silver, then," Sarah noted.

"Is silver weak?" Mandy felt herself utter a question. Ah- she hadn't meant to interrupt. Rather than that, there were many other more vital questions to ask too.

"No," August replied. "Just that Sarah is suicidal and takes on platinum rank tasks, so a silver ranked mage wouldn't cut it."

"You mean strong and immortal," Sarah cut in to correct her own descriptors.

Mandy tilted her head. Literarily? Two new things to wonder about - was Sarah actually immortal and what was a platinum rank. Who ranked them and how did that work?

"Correction, a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic undead," August didn't let up his description.

Mandy felt her cheek twitch. Was August ten? Had he reverted back to being ten? She felt compelled to scold him. Bickering was a normal thing among siblings, but he shouldn't badmouth his own sister like that, in front of her no less.

Sarah made an indulgent smile. She appeared to enjoy the insult, but..."Don't wanna hear that from a sadist with a hand fetish," Sarah mentioned as if by the way.

August flapped his mouth like a fish out of water.

Okay. Didn't look like Sarah was any better. August did deserve it, though. Was that for real, though? Mandy squinted at August, didn't he have a thing for b.o.o.b.s? Although, now that Sarah pointed it out, August was very descriptive of his character's hands. She wouldn't say there were any hints at him being a sadist, though. Perhaps that teasing back in the taxi hinted at that and his evil smile when he had Tia sign that contract… wait, that was not something she wanted to know.

"You reveal far more than you think in your books," Sarah said with a smug smile, seeing that August was shocked by her comeback.

Before August could regain his vocal abilities, Sarah continued: "I loved your last one, by the way. I never expected Carlos to go down that road, but it made sense, that was some fine play." Her expression also changed from that previous smug smile to honest approval.

August let out a breath. "Thanks."

He let it go, huh? Mandy observed. It seemed like Sarah was good at dealing with August. Sarah had made a good call and switched the topic right away, while still properly paying August back for insulting her. Mandy kind of admired that.

"Carlos might be my favorite character, hope he makes a return in the next book," Sarah continued.

"He does," Mandy noted.

"No spoilers!" August said to Mandy in a harsh tone.

"Eh? You let Mandy read it already? Not fair!" Sarah pouted.

"She peeked over my shoulder while I wrote," August said.

"While August was pretending he couldn't see me," Mandy said as an apology to imply that it wasn't August permitting her to, as lately she hadn't really done any behind the back reading and August didn't seem to like her doing that all that much either.

"Neglect play from the get-go, huh?" Sarah asked with a vague expression like she had heard something too private. It did fit with a sadist's label.

Mandy turned red.

"You read too much p.o.r.n," August said with a squint.

"Ah," it seemed like Sarah realized she had been mistaken. "Something like - I have a deadline so I will pretend I can't see her to save time on explaining anything."

August made a firm nod.

Mandy felt her embarrassment fade. This time August had luckily corrected the misunderstanding. With Tia he hadn't… hmm, was that also some sadism peeking out? "Does he do that a lot?" Mandy felt like asking. There was probably a reason why Sarah had guessed something like that so easily.

"Yeah, when he has a goal to do something he cuts corners on everything else. Not that I'm much better in that sense," Sarah said and finished her scone, picking up her coffee to finish that too.

"It's a genes thing," August said in a flat tone.

Mandy squinted at him. How convenient to say that.

"With one exception," Sarah said. "Think mom cheated with Hal?"

Ah, so Sarah agreed? That was pretty hopeless. Mandy sighed. Same how all the girls who called themselves 'big boned' never lost any weight. Meant August wouldn't really try to change.

"Hal is a bit too, how to say this," August continued on the topic.

"Yeah, he's like," Sarah picked up another pastry.

"Perfect," August made a distant look.

"You mean boring as hell, no?" Sarah disagreed.

August shook his head. "If I wasn't a Garold, I'd propose to him. He's that perfect."

Mandy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, realizing there was nothing to say here. Did August have a brother complex? Or did he just really admire/dote on him.

"Eh, you are fine with dudes?" Sarah cast a surprised look at him.

"Nothing a bit of alchemy can't fix," August said with an unreadable expression. Unreadable = he was hiding something.

Sarah noticed and let out a sigh. "If you want to mess with me, then hide your smile under something other than a deadpan expression. Mandy noticed too, right?"

Mandy nodded, caught up in the moment. Eh? Why was Sarah giving that away, did she actually want August to mess with her? And smile? Was August actually smiling beneath that unreadable expression?

August clicked his tongue.

"It's not fun unless you give me an actual fright," Sarah made a slightly bashful smile.

"Hmm, hope you don't regret that piece of advice," August returned a sadistic smile.

Ah. Right. August did call her an M before, and now he did look like an S. What the heck was up with these siblings really? Watching them was kind of interesting, but their dynamics were tiring. Or were they messing with her?

"Which of you is older?" Mandy asked, deciding not to pay that exchange any mind. A small trivia bit. Seeing how they had long since trailed away from the job discussion, might as well ask.

"Me, by a whole day," Sarah said.

"Actually four hours." August corrected.

Yep, they were twins. Not that Mandy doubted that, given their striking similarity. That made Sarah a firstborn and meant that all other siblings were younger. Hal would be someone younger then as well, not a cool older brother whom August considered to be perfect. Mandy wanted to meet him just to see what he was like.

Did Hal have beautiful hands…? Mandy shook that taught away, her eyes trailing down to her own hands. She had cared for her nails properly back when she had been alive, although she had never been all that keen on nail polishes. What kind of hands did August like, actually?

There was a moment of silence, so Mandy glanced over at the two only to find them looking at her. Sarah seemed to be close to breaking out into a laugh.

August was hiding his mouth behind his palm.

Mandy turned red like a beet realizing what kind of gesture she had been making. "It's not like that!"

Sarah did her best to make a somewhat serious expression, although it was cracking. "I believe you."

That didn't convince Mandy one bit. Sarah was lying, she was totally lying!

Mandy looked towards August hoping he would clear the misunderstanding, but rather than that, he raised up one hand to show thumbs up. "Your hands look great!" And he smiled.

Oh, what a sadistically sunny smile it was. Mandy wanted to hit herself for feeling a little bit happy about the compliment when they were both making fun of her like this. Wouldn't one get like normally conscious of something like that if they knew someone around them likes that kind of thing?

Argh, it was hopeless. Mandy needed to switch the topic and do it fast! "What's a songlie?" she asked.

August and Sarah exchanged glances, almost as if making some sort of agreement. Twin telepathy?

Sarah replied. "A small humanoid with frilly moth-like wings and cute doll clothes, they don't shine or drop any stardust, so not to be confused with Disney movie faeries. What we mean when we use the word faerie is actually a human-sized half-human. Tiny ones are songlies, pixies, higher rank dustbuns, that said, some of those do shine and shimmer...hope I'm not over-explaining?" Sarah stopped to check.

Mandy shook her head. Sarah had given a more elaborate answer, but it hadn't been anything she would call overexplaining. "Not at all, I only started seeing things after dying, so I'm honestly clueless."

It was kind of confusing how most mainstream names ended up being inaccurate, but thinking back on it - mainstream creatures didn't quite match older folklores either. And any other culture had different folklore to match, so learning it all anew was - not all that different than just learning about the folklore of a different culture. Some things did end up matching, though.

"In short songlies are nature spirits and they sing the song of coming natural phenomenon. Their voices sound like rustling leaves, like wind over plains, like falling rain, like ice growing over a lake, not a sound a regular human can make. August here is an exception, though, he got lost in an ancient sacred forest for two weeks and came back speaking like a nature spirit. He almost turned into one, now that I think about it, " Sarah said, finger on her chin.

Not a sound a human can make. Mandy realized what kind of language August had been using back then. So that was the way spirits spoke…

"Yeah, you were preparing for my funeral and stole my console as an inheritance," August mentioned, recalling it.

"At least I protected your coma body from being taken over. What else would you assume seeing your lil' bro's soul link shriveling and snapping."

That didn't sound good to Mandy either, even if she didn't know what a soul link was. Probably something connecting the body and soul.

"Yeah, normally that would mean someone was dead," August admitted.

"Right, now that I think about it - I think the guardian kid had his circuits rewired, he can only speak in spirit tongue," Sarah mentioned.

"I don't envy him, although songlies might favor him then, unless he's ugly by their standards." August analyzed while crossing his arms.

Sarah shrugged, not seeming sure.

"Was that word you used for the tentacle dog in spirit tongue?" Mandy asked, even if she already figured that was the case. She was curious why August had used a spirit language word in the middle of a conversation with his sister, who… the context didn't seem to imply she could understand the language either.

August looked up, thinking.

"Yep," Sarah answered. "August doesn't notice when he uses it. I mean, he can't spell Snarghlah'ahd since the name is a bastardization of the spirit tongue word for it, so August ends up pronouncing it 'right'. Happens with a fair lot of specialized words for him."

August had said it was a word hard to pronounce. Turns out he couldn't pronounce it in a human way either and thus had avoided to. 'Tentacle dog' seemed accurate enough for Mandy though. But to think August had gone through that… although, hadn't he called Sarah and undead? There was a story under that too, most likely.

"Are you actually immortal?" Mandy asked.

"Sorta. I'm an Untral. Went to Ahea and back, so I will probably live till three hundred and I can't be killed by normal means," Sarah explained.

Mandy looked at Sarah in surprise. Did that mean she had dealt with the tentacle dog? Could that be related to the damages she caused to August, Tia and their father? If that was the case she would risk ruining the mood with her question and Mandy didn't want that.

"What was Ahea like?" Mandy asked instead.

"Oh, boring," Sarah said. "Everyone there is chill and doing their own things and - I admit the parts I visited were breathtakingly beautiful, but as soon as my wounds healed I came back. It was a bit like a stereotypical fantasy world just with complete peace and prosperity"

It sounded like a paradise. Mandy was curious about how it happened and why, but she also wished to avoid stepping on a mine, so - "I heard something about ranks - silver, platinum," she started.

"Oh, guild rankings. Need those to get good jobs. They go from steel, copper, silver, gold, platinum. Rather than raw power, they are given for achievements and skill to tackle the type of tasks that suit your class. I happen to be a platinum rank exorcist, August is gold and the rest of our family are silver or under for now. Silver is already really dang powerful. Yet, when it comes to firepower alone I don't think most platinum rank exorcists would stand a chance against silver rank mages. Judging someone's power from their rank isn't a good idea, just saying, and there are also some families that don't get their jobs through the guild, so those are unranked."

To think August was that high up in the rank… well, he does seem to know all kinds of things and Mandy didn't have trouble believing, just that why would someone quit if they had obviously spent enough time to achieve a high rank. Yet, had he really quit? It didn't quite feel like he had. That wasn't something Mandy would bother pointing out, though.

Sarah continued. "August is weak as hell, you could end him with a single stray spell, for example, but you give him some hours to prepare and some location to lay traps in and well, he might as well do in a platinum rank mage, if he also happens to have some info on the guy."

Different types of magic users having different strengths seemed like a pretty normal thing. Plots like those came up in stories all the time too - a weaker opponent beating the stronger one by using their wits.

"That's a bullshit comparison," August noted. "We don't fight each other. Other than in some strange tournaments and no one above silver rank joins those."

"Fair enough," Sarah gave up on the topic. Even if it seemed like she might have wanted to add something there.

"What other types are there, other than exorcist and a mage?" Mandy asked.

Sarah readily answered, counting on her fingers. "You have an alchemist, brewing concoctions and potions for anything you can imagine, starting from altering your body, curing disease, boosting ability, helping you sleep, charming someone. They use mysterious and not so mysterious ingredients to cause various effects."

That seemed to match what Mandy would imagine when given the word Alchemist. Philosopher's stone and elixir of immortality also passed her mind, but other than that brewing various concoctions or potions fit that word well. In folklore witches did that too, but, well, by now Mandy had already figured out that all of them used magic, thus to a layman all of them would count as witches, this was just specifying and specializing. Same how both programmers and electricians were engineers even if they did very different things.

Sarah raised another finger. "Then you have a witch or wizard - someone who works with astrals, spirits or demons to cause various effects. They either sacrifice and contract, enslave, or talk the astrals into helping them. They cause blessings or curses by having certain types of astrals possess or interact with the said person. Or have magic casting astrals cast their magic. Their main power probably lies in working in a group to hold various rituals, though. Like walpurgis or blessings for a good harvest. The really strong ones are either ethereal beauties who can speak spirit tongue or filthy rich ones who can afford incredibly valuable sacrifices and contract overpowered astrals."

Seemed like a stereotype of witches summoning demons or witches being demon collaborators had a lot of truth in it. Not that most were called demons, probably. Although Sarah had used the word demon, so demons were probably real, maybe angels too. Nothing too surprising here either.

"Just to mention, Mages are mortals, not necessarily pure humans, who have an abundance of aether in their bodies and can cause it to turn into natural phenomena out of seemingly nowhere. From mortals only mages can freely cast fireballs or shoot you with ice shards or shoot light beams and stuff. Faeries are the strongest as mages - can't match their inner aether reserves, because they are one half the most powerful type of magic casting astral - a steion. Just like their parent, though, they have a side-effect of inducing some kind of emotion to appear in those around them, which serves to fill up their aether reserves for using more magic." Sarah said.

From that Mandy could piece together what that previous line of 'side-effect' meant. The mage called Alice was a faerie who induced feelings of loneliness in those around her. Meaning August would feel lonely when around her. Mandy really wanted to see that magic! Her eyes sparkled.

"Lastly, no idea how much August told you about exorcists, but in short we banish, seal or otherwise remove astrals or their influence from certain locations or people. Technique-wise we use materials with magical properties to bend reality in some way or form. Most exorcists prefer to enchant gems with some sort of effect and then break them to release it, packed charms are also a way to go, some use words of power and a special ink, but unless you know spirit tongue you are limited in the types of spells you can use, so in that sense August isn't a good representative for how most exorcists are."

"In fact, don't use him as a reference - he mixes in witchcraft and alchemy casually, one time he even got paladins on his back, even if paladins pretty much never mess with exorcists."

Mandy made a wry smile. Yes, she had heard of that bit. So being confused for a warlock was because August actually did something that would put him on their radar. Not that it had surprised her all that much the first time she heard of it.

August squinted. "I didn't have any astrals help me on the task after which they attacked me," August said. "Nor did I make any concoctions."

"Yet you were dating a siren they were after at the time," Sarah said.

First a black widow, now a siren? Mandy peered at August sideways. What was up with his tastes? A spider bottom, a mermaid bottom… did August have something against human butts?

"How do you know that?" August asked, a trace of suspicion passing his eyes.

Sarah snorted. "Your love life is the second most famous thing about you after being my brother. Dad used to be known as a pretty risque character - y'know, exorcist marrying a ghost of all things, but you've beaten him solid there - a black widow, a siren, a dragon. And all of them ended up trying to murder you."

Worrying about her hands might have been a waste after all, Mandy thought. She was far too plain for August's tastes. Not that it mattered, because it was not like she liked him that way or anything, really. Still, it was pretty wild. How would one even meet or start dating a dragon? Did a dragon even have any human parts?

August made a dumbfounded expression. "Okay, I get it about the black widow, but how did the info about the other two spread?"

For a moment Mandy felt false relief seeing August's reaction, but rather than denying it, he just asked how it got out…

"The siren story got out from other sirens, they are pretty keen on gossiping, and you did take her on dates too visibly. The dragon - same about the dates and then you went to the crafts store with half burned clothes and bought ingredients for preparing a two dragon's worth of love potion, and then your ex-girlfriend was happily frol.i.c.k.i.n.g with another dragon the next day. Everyone is still wondering to this day how the heck did you get two dragons to drink that stuff".

August listened to Sarah with a grumpy expression. He clearly didn't like what he heard. The last bit, though: "Easy. Dissolved in liquor, wrote some charms for erasing scent and left the barrels by the cave along with other offerings. Dragons accept gifts all too readily."

"If it was that easy wouldn't someone try that to poison one and dissect them while they sleep?" Sarah pondered.

"Dragons are immune to most toxins and poisons, but are fine with alcohol and most happy drug substances. Also, their scales harden and they sometimes form a barrier when they are sleeping or out of it, so dissecting is not likely. Love potion ingredients fall under happy drug series, most of them aren't even anything special by themselves," August said.

Why exactly did August learn how to make a love potion? A thought like that lingered on Mandy's mind. For now, she didn't ask, though.

"Pretty smart of you then," Sarah nodded. "How did you survive her trying to kill you, though?"

Yeah, that was something more incredible seeming. Mandy had already heard about the black widow from Tia, but she did want to know why a siren and dragon… whom August presumably dated, wanted to kill him. Was it in their nature? Was August actually the suicidal one?

"She wasn't trying to kill me," August said. "Well, not seriously, at least… probably…?" August shifted and thought on it, not seeming all that certain.

"Okay, how did you escape from whatever she was doing that got you in that state?" Sarah asked.

"Running, hiding, Fae paths," August replied.

Sarah pursed her lips, but didn't ask anything more.

Running and hiding was something August could do, in fact Mandy had been on one of those running and hiding adventures herself. 'Fae paths'… magical forest shortcuts? Mandy had a hard time telling if Sarah was judging August or having a hard time believing in what he said.

"Well, long story short - hanging around Astrals is what defines a witch, can't blame a paladin for mixing you up with one with your dating habits," Sarah stated.

August sighed, not seeming to have any counter-arguments.

"Why did they try to kill you?" Mandy couldn't help to ask. That was the part that struck her as the most curious.

"I tried to break up with them," August replied with a slight shrug. "They didn't let me get any writing done."

Sarah and Mandy exchanged looks. Ah. Yeah. How August-like. Work before love, work before family, work before sleep or food. Sarah made a helpless shrug, as if implying to Mandy that she had already figured that much. Mandy felt like she could have figured this out even without asking, now that she thought of it. This only said that monster girls were not quite as forgiving about being dumped for work as human girls were… at least, human girls normally wouldn't resort to murder.

"Does August also have some witch or alchemist ranks?" Mandy figured asking since August 'fiddled with' those.

"No, as far as I know," Sarah replied.

"What you are called depends on the type of work you do," August said. "I have only ever taken or been offered exorcist class work."

"Yeah, there's that, there is one gold rank exorcist who has her contracted astral eat other astrals, rather than the usual exorcist way of sealing or banishing. Using witchcraft to perform exorcism still makes you an exorcist if that's what you do. In that sense it is more clear to say that Exorcists are those who trap, seal, banish astrals, mages are those who fight them openly with pure power, witches are those who coexist and negotiate, and alchemist tasks have no direct relation with astrals."

"In short, if you have a general problem, you check with an alchemist, if an astral torments you, you seek out an exorcist, if you want to torment or fight an astral you seek out a mage or if you need a favor from astrals you seek out a witch. There are exceptions, so guild generally sorts out tasks and either puts them up or offers them to specialists."

"Yet, most people do develop and learn the methods that are the most efficient, so a typical witch doing exorcist work is like a fish learning to fly - possible, but not the best match up. You pick the work you feel the most strongly about and pick up the skills that serve that goal. So a person with a natural talent for witchcraft would gradually still learn a fair amount of exorcist skills and use that witchcraft in a specialized manner. Now that I think about it, paladins also use some exorcist class skills even if they aren't in the guild."

August sighed in a tired manner. "I mean, isn't a typical exorcist someone with a huge grudge against astrals who works up the ranks powered by their trauma of losing their parents or whatnot. Is there really a wonder a paladin would mesh well with skills developed with that undertone?"

Mandy listened to August talk and cast a glance at Sarah to see if there would be a confirmation for it. Something in the way Tia talked about it also hinted at that motivation being a possibility and… somewhat that didn't match up with who August was at all. Maybe this matter was something related with August 'quitting'. If someone like August, a half-astral with a love for monster girls was working in a community of people who hated astrals with a passion, that could be harsh.

"Right. There was that." Sarah nodded, thinking. "The good news, though, when you get to platinum that's not an issue anymore. Plus, you get to meet so many beautiful and powerful astrals. Imagine the dating opportunities and I'm sure you could get there with just a few more jobs!"

For a brief moment, August seemed to be considering it.

Mandy squinted. Seriously, August?

"No dating till I finish the book series," August replied firmly.

Oh. Mandy made a wry smile. So after he does he would consider it? For the girls? Even if he had lost some organs and the missions gave him traumatic memories?

Sarah shrugged her shoulders with a smile, not seeming all that disappointed. Something vibrated on Sarah's wrist and she got out her phone. "Do I take it that you agree to the job?" She asked to August.

"Yeah, but if I do end up dying because you forgot to tell me something, then prepare for one heck of a curse cast in my dying breath," August said with a smile. His eyes weren't smiling, though.

Sarah shivered. "I told you all I know, serious. I'm not gonna repeat that past mistake," she said as she typed.

August let out a soft breath.

"What is your current phone number?" Sarah asked.

August got up from his seat and walked over to the sofa, got out a phone from the jacket he wore the day before and turned it on, walking back. Over the next following moments Sarah got August's phone number without them exchanging any words. Unusual sight for Mandy who was used to seeing people actually telling their numbers to one another, but neither Sarah nor August implied with their body language or otherwise that anything was unusual.

"I'll be going then," Sarah said, getting up.

August's phone rang just as Sarah had turned to leave. Mandy took the cue and went to let Sarah out. The only thing Sarah said, was 'See you around then' as she left. And once Mandy came back to the room, she overheard August replying with a "that works" After which he ended the call, turning to head into the bathroom.

If Mandy's hunch was right, August would be heading out to the same job he had agreed to take just now.