“Confess, Nix,” says Kari. “You’ve got some kind of superpower over women, don’t you?”

  “Me?” answers Nix in confusion. “Don’t you mean Rio? He’s the closet Casanova here.”

  No, she means you, signs Saki.

  “Definitely you,” I say. “Women have started acting differently around you, lately.”

  “I am referring to this mysterious Hidden Boon of yours: Love Crush!” says Kari. “What is it, how does it work, and how can we protect ourselves from your perversions?!?”

  “What perversions?!?!? I don’t know anything about perversion. I’m as clean cut as they come.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” I mutter.

  “Oh really? Then what about the hot elf incident?” accuses Kari.

  Alleged hot elf.

  “She kissed me on the cheek! How is that perverted?”

  “Why did she kiss you on the cheek. How did you get to her? Did you infect her brain with some weird magic?”

  “Infect … I didn’t … I was the victim in that incident! It was non-consensual!”

  Alleged incident.

  “If she had asked you, would you have consented?”

  “Well,” he blushed. “Yeah, I suppose I would’ve. But she didn’t ask!”

  “What about the Gorgon, then?”

  Alleged Gorgon.

  “What about her?”

  “You kissed her didn’t you? Consensually?”

  “I guess … Wait a minute? Why are we discussing my love life in the morning meeting?”

  Alleged love life.

  “I can hear your fingers talking Saki! It’s all true!”

  “Ha! I knew it!”

  “Rrrhhemm!”

  Instant silence. Addie has asserted control with a simple clearing of her throat. Gotta love that sort of presence.

  “Where is the entrance to the Dungeon?” she asks.

  Silence.

  “Kari. Is your map of the Palace complete?”

  “Not yet. I still have about a third of the wild section to cover. I have confirmed that, while there are constant cosmetic changes happening, the major corridors and other terrain features remain constant.”

  “Finish the map as soon as you can. Request help from the others if you need it. Rio. Can your clairvoyant powers contribute anything?”

  “I’m afraid not. So far, all I can do is see chains of outcomes leading out of or into an action or decision.”

  “Help Kari with her mapping then. I want you to become our Dungeon Diving expert.” Then she shifted to sign. Penny, can you search the library for anything about finding a hidden Dungeon entrance?

  I’ll get right on it.

  “Nix!”

  “Yes ma’am!”

  “Any advice on how to get a hot elf to kiss me?” Addie asks.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Um … not really? … I mean … Uh, next time I meet one I’ll send her your way.”

  “Good enough. Meeting dismissed. Get to work my minions! Bwahahahahaha!!!!”

  She’s got the evil laugh down pretty well. Have to give her kudos for that.

  With a pop, my cute little stone pyramid appears in front of me.

  "Well?" I ask.

  "Hmmmm.... Not sure. I saw something. Primal energy. Probably."

  "Not helpful. This kind of thing makes me nervous. Not knowing how something works. How can we put important stuff in the Family Inventory if we can't be fer sure that we can recover it?"

  "Maybe the Family Inventory isn't actually magic. Maybe you're just pulling shit out of your - "

  "HEY!!! Watch your language. I'm a proper young maiden, I am!"

  "Wait! Who said that? I can't see. Sounded like Kari but there's a weird content mismatch error."

  "Shut up! I can't use that phrasing because of the implications."

  "Implications?"

  "Yeah. I period E period, where things go to when they disappear."

  "Ooooh. I see your point. Sounds entirely too painful.... Wonder what's the biggest thing you can - ?"

  "Shut up I said!"

  Excerpt from Saki’s Journal

  The room had Wards. I don’t mean like the Wards you find protecting doors and windows. I mean Wards covering every inch of walls, floor, and ceiling.

  I’d been helping out Kari. Exploring the remaining bits of the Palace still unmapped. The area I’d strayed into was meant for various types of training. The room was large, at least thirty meters in each direction, the ceiling was high, and the floor was a strange substance that felt like a mix between rubber and concrete. All of it protected by Wards.

  I got lost in studying them. Kari finally had to use her Search magic to find me.

  “Whatcha doin’ Saki,” she asked.

  “I’m studying these Wards. Watch!” With a few quick motions, I drew a spell in the air and fired it off. A ball of fire shot across the room and ended in a minor explosion when it hit the wall.

  “Hey! Be careful, the place will catch … Nothing happened.”

  “Yep. This whole room is Warded against magic damage. I think it’s for combat magic practice.”

  “That’s cool! Now you have a place to train!”

  “Yes. And these Wards are worth study as well. It’s very good work.”

  “Okay. But that’s not why we’re here. Back to work!”

  “Slave driver!”

  “It’s not me, it’s Addie. She’s making me make you work. I don’t like having to boss you around. Not at all. Hehehehehehe…”

  Kari’s getting the evil laugh thing down as well. I hit her in the ass with a bolt of lightning and ran out the door. I’m such a baaad slave.

  It’s the weirdest thing. The small girl, Kari, is chasing the girl who doesn't speak, Saki, down the hallway. Every few yards, Saki turns and raises up her - I’m going to have to call it this - wand. She draws some sort of glowing characters in the air and Kari takes cover. Saki is using magic. Weird, non-Sigil magic. Once I see a bolt of lightning, once a ball of water, and once a pulsating balloon of something I can’t even describe. Then Saki turns and runs again with Kari in hot pursuit.

  To be honest, it looks like they’re having fun. Sure does leave a mess, though.

  Makes me wonder what the broken ones have been up to since we got here. I know they’ve been isolated from us but I catch a glimpse of them every now and again. I think back to when I saw the blind one, Nix, training one day.

  I wonder how he’s been doing. Maybe I’ll go looking for him in the morning.

  Okay. I have to get these guys out of my head. If I’m not focusing on something else I start hearing what the others are thinking. It’s starting to drive me crazy.

  I don’t think it’s just my fault, though. It seems like we all need to learn how to shield our thoughts. It needs to be automatic. I’m sure there are types of magic which could be used to eavesdrop on the thoughts of the unwary.

  Well, time for a test. I picture Penny in my mind and send her a thought, Penny.

  Yes? Is that you Addie?

  Yes. It’s me. How did you know?

  It felt like you. I assume you’re using your Communicate Boon? What do you need?

  Do you have any books that tell how to shield your thoughts from others? Like from magic spells and such which can read thoughts?

  Mmmm. Yes. I think so. I’ll pull them out for you.

  Maybe you could do the research and give us a class later?

  That sounds fun. I’ll work on it.

  Thanks!

  I sign off and turn my mind to what I’m calling the Situation Map. As I think about it, it fades into view. Like a map superimposed on my vision. I can still see other stuff through it, though.

  It’s a lot of information to sort. I can see all sorts of what Nix calls auras. The people who are within a certain distance of Family members. So I’ve got a big map which has blank spots, which are out of range I guess? Family members are a different color from everyone else. I can sense who is who somehow.

  I study the map for a while. I’m going to have to get better at processing the information. Guess I need to talk to Nix about that.

  I check where everyone is. Most of them should be out working on the map and looking for the Dungeon entrance. Wait a minute, why is Kari chasing Saki through the hallways. Are they running from something? Nothing seems to be chasing them…

  I think about accessing their thoughts, but then think better of it. Whatever it is, I probably don’t want to know.