Anika wandered out onto the street, having thanked Tikal profusely on behalf of her slumbering sidekick. Anika didn’t find Leka and Philip in the workshop, so she assumed they had wandered off to find Philip food. She figured she could find them pretty easily, as Epona had to wait in the courtyard of any building they entered, her large form unable to enter the doors of the regular shops.

  The street bustled with people as crafters and other townsfolk socialized outside shops and ran errands. As a crowd disappeared around a corner, Anika spotted Epona about halfway down the road leading south away from the town square and headed towards her.

  As Anika approached the pegasus, she saw that the courtyard in front of this shop held a giant, outdoor kitchen. A large fire burned on a raised pit that looked more like a table than a traditional fire pit. Several tiers of meat on spits hung across the fire, and Philip stood on a short stool turning one of the spits. Leka stood on the other side of Epona, watching Philip while chatting with an elderly Mizeta woman wearing a greasy apron.

  Philip saw Anika coming and immediately stopped to wave vigorously in Anika’s direction while shouting towards her.

  “Anika! Lily! Over here!”

  Anika nodded back, not wanting to wake Lily by shouting or trying to return the wave.

  “They are teaching me how to cook!” Philip announced loudly and proudly as Anika entered the courtyard.

  The Mizeta woman lightly tapped Philip on the shoulder, “Pay attention to your task! If you do not cook the meat evenly it will be ruined!”

  “Right!” Philip immediately started turning the spit, pumping it several times in a circle quickly to make up for lost time before the Mizeta woman reprimanded him again.

  “Slow and steady!”

  Appropriately chastised, Philip returned to the pace he maintained before Anika arrived. Anika turned to Leka and Epona, “Are we still going to get our identification tablets today?”

  Leka nodded, “We will head down to the town temple once Philip finishes. The meat was almost done when we arrived.”

  “I’ll never say no to letting a young man take over turning the spit!” The Mizeta woman laughed, but didn’t make any attempt to introduce herself, so Anika quickly jumped on an opportunity to not socialize. She turned to watch Philip and waited, thinking about the crafting experience..

  Anika hoped Lily hadn’t hurt herself trying to imbue her scarf with her magic. Despite the loud noises of the street and the jostling in Anika’s arms as she walked, Lily hadn’t so much as budged in her sleep. Tikal didn’t seem concerned, but Anika still worried about her companion. She hoped the enchantment on the scarf worked as well as Tikal described and would keep Lily safe as well as give her the ability to carry things on her own. Anika didn’t mind carrying things for Lily, but it would be a lot easier for Lily to have some independence.

  True to Leka’s words, the meat only took a few minutes to finish cooking. The Mizeta woman politely shooed Philip out of the way and sliced off several thick slabs of meat. She put them in simple buns and handed one to each of them. Anika declined, deciding the rule of not waking sleeping cats applied to cute capybaras as well, and let Philip have her portion. He did not argue.

  “Very nice job, youngling. Come back any time to work the spit and I will teach you more about cooking!”

  Leka and Epona promptly shooed Philip out of the courtyard at the woman’s words. Philip, happily dual wielding his sandwiches, followed complacently as they turned to head towards the town square and the main village temple.

  The group arrived at the main square of Kanewek with no interruptions, as the most distractible members of the group engaged in other activities. With Lily still asleep in her arms, Anika looked around, taking in the clean, grey cobblestone courtyard surrounded by buildings and scattered with market stalls. Philip, on the other hand, started on his second sandwich, his eyes focused more on his prize than the village square.

  The village’s temple complex was massive, running up the entire length of the courtyard. Buildings larger than any of the shops or stores on the main avenues lined either side of the square. On the right side, closest to where they entered the square from the artisan’s avenue, Anika saw cultural buildings like the museum and theater. The opposite side of the courtyard featured a building that was clearly the Hunter’s Guild, as well as a library. Both sides of the courtyard held buildings with no clear written label to their function, though some held symbols Anika didn’t recognize.

  Rather than stopping to provide education about the town square, as she had done in other parts of the village, Leka walked briskly across the courtyard, aiming for the opposite corner.

  “The left side of the temple complex houses administrative functions. The central area is the main temple area, and the right side houses the school. Identification tablet pickup is in the administration section.”

  Leka led them between empty market stalls, allowing Anika to get a closer look. They were small, quaint buildings with open sides, similar to what Anika had seen in pictures of European Christmas markets, though she had never had the opportunity to visit herself. Despite her introverted, crowd-avoidant preferences, the idea that the festivals here may look or feel similar to the Christmas markets her mother had told her about excited her. She imagined the stalls decorated for various festivals with magical lights, greenery, or ribbons and wondered what kind of magic she might see at one of those events. Surely they had something like fireworks here, likely combining fire magic with some enchantment or another. Maybe they put on elaborate light shows, similar to drone shows on Earth! Anika would love to watch magical pictures and stories depicted against the dark night sky of Etalen.

  Distracted by her thoughts, Anika stumbled on the step leading into the administrative building. She jerked forward, managing to get her other foot up into the room to prevent a fall without dropping Lily or crashing spectacularly through the entryway, but the sudden movement jolted Lily awake and elicited an adorable yawn. Anika immediately apologized to her sleepy companion as she hurried into the room after Leka and Philip while Epona waited outside.

  “I’m so sleepy,” Lily mumbled as she twisted in Anika’s arms, trying to get comfortable.

  “You can sleep again, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Anika felt bad for waking Lily, but secretly breathed a sign of relief to have Lily wake up. Despite Tikal saying falling asleep after expending so much magical energy was completely normal, Anika still worried.

  “You would have had to wake up anyway to get your identification tablet.” Leka held a door open, ushering the group inside.

  “Ooo I want my identification!” Lily perked up a little, though the slow pace of her speech conveyed her fatigue.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  As she walked through the door, Anika inspected the room. It reminded her of office reception areas on earth. A counter separated the small lobby they stood in from a larger room behind it. Unlike earth, however, the space behind the counter was filled with magical implements and crystalline tablets and other gadgets rather than desks of computers and paperwork. A green skinned Mizeta man with silver and blue hair looked up as they clustered into the room.

  “Ah, Leka, just who I was expecting.” The man leaned down and reached under the counter, pulling out a small box. From it he pulled out four identification tablets, each attached to a chain. Placing them on the counter, he pulled out a sturdy, rectangular wand with a large crystal on each end.

  “I’ll need to complete the activation ritual with each of you, so come forward and tell me your name.” The man hefted the wand and gestured to the front of the desk.

  “How is Epona going to get hers? She can’t come into the room.” Philip looked up at the man as he stepped forward to the counter, which came up to his shoulders.

  “No worries,” the man chuckled, “you must be Philip. The answer is quite simple: once we are done with you three, I can just take the wand outside.”

  “Oh! Good! What do I do?” Philip immediately smiled at the man, no longer concerned about his companion.

  “Just stand still and look straight ahead. It will just be a moment.”

  Philip immediately stood as still as a statue, unblinking. Anika stifled a giggle at his literal interpretation of the instructions. She watched with interest as the man took one of the identification tablets and placed it into a slot on the wand next to one of the crystals. He held the wand parallel to the floor and lined one end up with Philip’s eye. The wand began to glow with runes and the crystals on each side lit.

  After a few moments, the glow faded from the wand and the man removed the tablet to hand it to Philip. “There you go! All attuned. Next?”

  “Lily, do you want to…” Anika realized Lily had fallen back asleep. She softly tapped the back of the capybara’s neck, giving her a little shake like one might wake a baby, “Lily, time to get your tablet.”

  Lily’s nose twitched as she moved into wakefulness again. “My… what?”

  Anika placed Lily up on the counter so the man could reach her, “This is Lily. Lily, keep your eyes open and stay still so you can get your identification tablet.”

  “Oh!” Lily jolted and looked at Anika, then at the man. “Okay.”

  The man repeated the procedure on Lily and then Anika before Anika picked up the capybara from the counter, cradling the already snoring companion in her arms again.

  With little fanfare, the man accompanied the group to Epona to attune her identification tablet, and then returned to his office. Leka had originally planned to introduce them to more of the crafters today, but as Lily continued to slumber, she decided it could wait for another day. Philip, of course, wanted to return to the roasting meat and Leka let Epona supervise him while she escorted Anika and the sleeping Lily back to the temple.

  —----

  Lily slept until shortly before dinner. Anika had tucked her into the bed upon return to their room at the temple after the day’s adventure, careful to ensure she wouldn’t get tangled in her scarf if she moved in her sleep. In truth, Anika didn’t mind the excuse to spend some quality time alone in the quiet of her room. She didn’t have much in this new world to call her own, but at least the temple provided and respected the sanctity of a bedroom. Alone with her thoughts, she had used the time since returning from town to process the emotions from earlier that day, as well as everything that had happened since she woke up in this world.

  Change was not something she enjoyed. She preferred a steady, predictable routine in her life, and plans made well in advance. Forcibly leaving the comfort of her home and her routines left her feeling anxious and lost. The only redeeming quality that had prevented her from absolutely shutting down or having a Morigan-sized outburst was the quickly established and structured routine of training. A routine she recognized and, rather than just tolerating, latched onto like a lifeboat. Despite the mental and physical exhaustion she felt after nearly ten days here, which, honestly, likely prevented more breakdowns, she didn’t feel too bad about her situation. Did that mean she actually liked her new world?

  Pragmatically, Anika recognized that she couldn’t change her circumstances. Nilendi made that very clear in dealing with Morigan that first day. She couldn’t return home, and she likewise could do nothing about what the people back home thought happened to her. She had cried several times over this fact, but ultimately, crying didn’t help. She did not have control over that, but she did have control over whether she thrived in this new environment. She had always dreamed of having magic or living in the fantasy worlds of her books or games, and now she had that opportunity. Could she really let go of her past on Earth and embrace this new world? Could she adapt to this much change and this crazy schedule without completely burning out?

  She wanted to just relax and appreciate the new experiences - to savor them and face them with the same excitement that Lily had for even the smallest things around them. That had never been her way of doing things in the past, her enthusiasm usually limited to numbers, strategies, puzzles, and plans. But she could try to channel a little more of Lily in her daily life here - maybe that would help her to really unlock this water magic. Leka said that water was flexible and adaptable - two words Anika would never use to describe herself - and flowed with the world around it. How could Anika fight to change her own nature to become more at one with her magic?

  Thinking about it more, Anika realized that sometimes she was adaptable - when she gamed. She preferred to play games that made her think about solutions to problems in creative ways and often tried multiple approaches to defeating a boss or solving a puzzle - that demonstrated flexibility. If she thought about her magic in the same way, then maybe she would find success. She could try using the magic in different ways throughout the day and see what worked rather than just bashing her head against the wall in the magic training room trying to get water to hold still long enough to form a perfect cube.

  The sound of rustling from the bed interrupted Anika’s thoughts as Lily finally woke up on her own. She yawned adorably and looked around, confused.

  “How did I get here?”

  Anika smiled at her companion, “You exhausted yourself using too much of your magic enchanting your new scarf.”

  “My new scarf!!!” Lily squeed as she remembered the cause of her exhaustion, and turned her head to try to look at the magical magenta accessory. She ended up spinning in a circle like a cat chasing their tail.

  “Hold on,” Anika laughed and moved to pick her up, placing her on top of the dresser so she could look into the mirror and admire herself.

  “Oooo it is so pretty!” Lily turned side to side to see the scarf, currently wrapped several times around her neck and tucked up under itself. Anika hadn’t wanted her to get tangled up in it while sleeping and hoped a similar wrap would prevent the scarf from interfering with movement when they went to the dungeons.

  Anika untucked one end of the scarf and pulled it down for Lily to look at. “And here is the spatial pocket enchantment that you helped make. Tikal says that it will only work for you since your personal Aether magic activated the enhancement on the pocket.”

  “I can carry things now! Like snacks! And I used so much magic I leveled up!”

  “Congrats on leveling! If you want to carry snacks, I won’t stop you.” Anika laughed, hoping her capybara didn’t become as food obsessed as Philip.

  “But you can also carry your identification tablet.” Anika pulled out the tablet from her own pouch, dangling it from its chain in front of Lily.

  “Yay! I can go to town and buy things now!” Lily used her Aether magic to lift the chain from Anika’s hand and moved it closer to her face to inspect.

  “Well, you may not want to spend all your money quite yet. Remember, we have to save up so that we can get you real armor when you are fully grown. Leka said that we had a small amount on our tablets from our two days in the dungeon, but it wasn’t a lot after she split it between us, Philip, and Epona.”

  “You’re right. I want to have armor like Epona when I get bigger, because then I won’t be able to hide as easily.” Lily moved the identification tablet toward the embroidered enchantment on her scarf and it disappeared into the spatial pocket.

  “I agree, you will definitely need that protection once you are grown up, and I want to make sure you have it. For now though, let’s go to dinner!”

  “Oh yes, I am starving! I want to eat a fruit the size of Epona!”