Bayleaf was not happy with what Chimera said.

  Oh by the Goddess above, she was downright furious with what the little alien girl thing said.

  “I was worried you would force me to make space ships for you?”

  Bayleaf channeled energy like she never had before, her magical might flowed out from her like a curtain, covering the entire house with a sheen of light green energy.

  It sunk into the walls, creating a sheet of flexible material that turned the solid wood into a rubbery bounce pad. All of the furniture soon followed, and it was only once the entire place was suffused with the energy did Bayleaf begin to turn her head.

  With a smile that didn’t hit her eyes, she showed her teeth to the would-be headache and grasped her hand firmly.

  Knowing that the little bastard could hear her thoughts, Bayleaf echoed her thoughts loud and clear to the tyke.

  You’ve made my life a lot better, and I have to thank you for not doing a lot worse, but a price must be paid before I consider helping you.

  The Price, is pain.

  Chimera only had time to project a ‘Wha?’ before the supercharged, incredibly pissed off Imperial Harrier threw Chimera with the strength of a catapult.

  Chimera, whether stunned by the action or simply too confused to act, was suddenly bouncing off of every single fixture in the entire house, walls and furniture included.

  What was worse, was the bouncing only increased her speed, and after a small curtain enveloped Bayleaf as well, Chimera now had no safe harbor to stop the ricochet.

  She screamed, but her tiny lungs lost all air after she hit a lamp that propelled her into the kitchen, where a set of pans, pots and bouncing utensils sent her ping-ponging into the bathrooms, the bedrooms and right back into the living room with Bayleaf.

  Pain was a good way to describe what Chimera went through, as since she didn’t technically need to woory about blood loss with this strange magic, she couldn’t help but heave as her stomach, pseudo-organs, and fluids kept trying to leave her body whenever she bounced off something.

  She wanted to beg to stop the magic, but no air in her lungs meant all she could do was try to mime that she was sorry.

  Bayleaf promptly ignored these cries for forgiveness.

  “This is Zero-G environment magic. My predecessor told me that in order to fight a battle in space, you have to be willing to deal with the lack of gravity and reactionary forces from movement. Unless you got a suit with a propellant, you're stuck trying to fight your own movements more often than not. It also feels like you're floating around, doesn't it?”

  Another attempted miming had Bayleaf turn her head.

  “Another five minutes and the magic will wear off. If you manage to stop yourself before then, I’ll consider what you need and assist. If you don’t…”

  Bayleaf pointed at the door, “it's the guard station for you.”

  Chimera shifted her body to try and slow her bouncing, but the magic sped her up further as she found no foothold for her to stop herself.

  Crap, how the hell am I going to stop in time?

  To be fair, the only time she ever experienced a zero-g environment was in the space ship and the solar cannon, so she never had to worry about somehting like this before.

  Oddly, this bit of … training felt like it was on purpose, not necessarily a punishment.

  “Do you need less time to act, I would be happy to shut it down sooner?”

  Chimera gulped as she thought about what would happen to her if the magic suddenly stopped while she was still bouncing.

  A grizzly image of her splattered against the wall motivated her to find a better way sooner!

  Think! Come on there got to be… oh I am dumb…

  Chimera flexed her inner magical organ, recalling the magic of the cube prison that she was in earlier, and flexed the magic.

  Suddenly, a gravity well appeared in front of her, slamming her tiny body on the floor.

  “Stopped… hah*”

  Even as the ground continued to try and bounce her, the space magic she used to hold herself in place only sent small amounts of force her way, allowing her a sense of control as she turned to face Bayleaf.

  Who was smiling genuinely.

  “I knew you figured out the Space Cube, nice to be proven right.”

  “Your Zero-G training sucks so mu-”

  Chimera groaned as she felt her pseudo-stomach hurl up a pink sludge on the floor.

  Said smile on Bayleaf’s face dropped into a frown after staring at the puke on the ground, and Chimera could only gasp for air as another river of sludge came forth.

  “I forget that you have a child’s body… or at least I think you do. This isn’t an elaborate prank is it?”

  “It’s- *hrull* Not *barf*!”

  A sigh came from Bayleaf’s lips as she snapped her fingers, making the green energy, and the vomit all disappear in an instant.

  “Alright, by the grace of the challenge, I Bayleaf Bristlebranch, do extend my hand in help and friendship, May we both strive towards your goal with victory.”

  A white flash appeared and a mark showed on Bayleaf’s right hand.

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  “What the hell?”

  “Language, and it's a magic pact.”

  “...”

  Bayleaf looked up at the ceiling, as if she was cursing a god somewhere, and sat on the chair next to Chimera as the alien blob girl stood up.

  “You said you were worried about being used for ship building right? Well, on Steros, when you want someone to help you with something, and you don’t trust them farther than you can throw them, you use a magic pact.”

  She showed the mark on her hand to Chimera, “see this? It is a magical brand, and if I don’t help you as stated in the pact I just initiated, my magic goes away.”

  Bayleaf grabbed Chimera’s hand, “now all you have to do is accept it. You can also initiate your own conditions as well. It won't go through If I don’t agree with them, but we can negotiate. So, you need my help, yeah?”

  Chimera nodded, “well, yeah. I…”

  Chimera felt a pang of guilt in her heart as she stared at the brand.

  This feels wrong… but a little assurance wouldn’t hurt would it?

  No, I got to do this right. No more being afraid.

  Chimera nodded as she placed her hand on Bayleaf’s right one.

  “I, Chimera, accept the pact, under the conditions that Bayleaf may choose at any time to remove the pact if she feels it goes against her code of honor, or if it conflicts with her previous oaths. Oh, and her magic is not the price even if she doesn’t fufil the bargain. I get to hit her in the stomach instead.”

  The brand appeared on Chimera’s hand shortly after, though it glowed a dull white as opposed to the vibrant luminosity of Bayleaf’s own.

  “A punch in the stomach?”

  “For making me hurl. I pay back pranks with interest.”

  For a moment, Bayleaf stared at the young alien with confusion. It seemed as though she was going through several thoughts while staring at the brand, all of which Chimera couldn’t get a bead on.

  It was strange too, she should have been able to at least get surface level thoughts with their hands connected like this, but all that was coming through was faint emotion.

  My power is being suppressed… or I still haven’t reclaimed the rest of them.

  That was true as well, as despite most of her gifts returning some of them eluded her still.

  Had she taken so much damage in the explosion that it obliterated some of her powers entirely?

  Still, she might not have super speed anymore, but she got space manipulation from the ship, oaken armor that could survive space, and all kinds of strange magic to test as well.

  Lost in her thoughts, Chimera didn’t hear Bayleaf as she spoke over her.

  “Huh, wassit?”

  “I said that I accept.”

  “Oh, nothing to add to the pact? Are you sure?”

  Bayleaf nodded, “It’s weird, but ever since you did that… transformation to me I can’t seem to find doubts in your words. Its as though I can glean your thoughts and know them to be truthful."

  Chimera froze.

  “You… can hear thoughts? Is it like a surface level thing or can you deep dive?”

  “The first one, its like I can tell your sincere even though you got other things on your mind.”

  Chimera felt the pact seal, and immediately ran to the nearest wall and hit her head on it.

  Idiot! You didn’t lose your powers, you gave them away!

  It was the only real explanation she could think of.

  Before, if she wanted to give powers to someone, she needed to be able to study their DNA and see what could fit without disrupting the DNA chain. It was how she was able to slot in Technomancy and Technopathy into Meghan’s body without it killing her.

  However, she still kept some of the chain to herself, so that she might replicate it. Because it was a finite thing if she didn’t replicate the chain. If she lost the entire chain…

  Well, that was it, gone completely irretrievable.

  She was reading Bayleaf’s thoughts when she used her power before, a deep dive into her information so she could understand her circumstances back on the Meras-102.

  Then she enhanced her.

  Without thinking about the fact that she was still using the ability!

  “AGHHH! Damnit, idiot stupid idiot!!!”

  “W-What’s wrong Mera?”

  Chimera held her head as she repeatedly slammed it against the wall.

  “I lost it! I lost one of my powers! Crap on a stick!”

  Bayleaf tried to pull Chimera away from her self imposed beating, and easily did so with her new found strength and body.

  “Now, come here. It can’t be as bad as you think.”

  “My ability allowed me to read minds, to insert myself into people's memories and glean information from them. It was how I understood your language.”

  Bayleaf gasped slightly, “Oh… well, then doesn’t that mean you-”

  “-Can’t learn unless I insert myself directly into a person’s body.”

  “Like you did with me… I see now.”

  Chimera looked up at her, “I suppose on the plus side, you can read people’s minds and find out their darkest secrets. As an Imperial Harrier that works for the Empress, that’s got to be useful.”

  Bayleaf nodded, a look of shock plastered on her face, “I suppose I can. Though now I feel like I’m more in debt to you then ever.”

  “If you can sneak me in to meet the Empress, I’ll call us even, pact and all.”

  “I’m sworn to protect the Empress though, which is one of my oaths. I can’t sneak you in, but maybe…”

  Bayleaf walked into her bedroom, opening the door for Chimera to follow.

  Inside was what many would call a room that screamed personality. The walls were pink, shaded with golden lines that crawled along the edges. A few plants hung near the window with a small cloud that occasionally rained on them, along with a few clay dolls that walked around and trimmed a few of the smaller dead leaves.

  The bed was a massive thing that took up most of the room, with a comforter in the shape of a flower that Chimera didn’t recognize.

  It was pink, fluffy, and looked like something a hummingbird would drink from.

  Lastly, in the massive closet that seemed to be its own room entirely, was Bayleaf, who was picking out clothing and shoes that went along side them, a fashion show that was moving to the whims of her magic.

  “This one… no, too flashy. That might work, but I don’t have the clothing for the skirt. This matches but it was so last season, and winter is coming soon. Aha!”

  Seemingly come to a conclusion, Bayleaf pulled out a small uniform with green apparel, with a skirt that went down to Chimera’s knees.

  It looked like a school uniform for a military college, only for a child’s size rather than an adults.

  “This, go ahead and put it on.”

  Chimera grabbed the uniform, confusion riddilng her features as she tried to figure out what angle Bayleaf was going with this.

  “Erm, Bay? Can I call you Bay? What’s with this thing?”

  Bayleaf smiled, “Bring your Family to Work Day is tomorrow, and I’m taking you with me to meet the Empress.”

  Chimera stared at the uniform, “but why do I need this?”

  Looking for answers, Chimera moved to stare at the larger woman, only for a smile of pure bliss to reach her eyes.

  “Because you would look great in that! It makes you look like a little soldier doesn’t it? So cuute!”

  Chimera laughed awkwardly, feeling a tense migraine begin to form in her thoughts.

  This is nothing like those dramas Meghan used to get Sarah to watch.

  …