Lian said her goodbyes to the library group, with her next destination set in mind; finding out mostly the myth behind the pact was a bummer, but she couldn’t admit that it wasn’t fun. Researching through tons of musty pages, and learning adjacent world tidbits was craic, challenging, and energy-consuming, but fun nonetheless. Still, she also counted it as a work day, which meant that she was allowed some time to recharge and relax. 

Clerk -” Oh sweetie, back so soon?” asked the small goat firbolg glancing at Lian, then at the time on her human device. “Ah, I’m actually the one that’s overtiming it. Oh, well-I’ll put the kettle on. Do you want tea or something harder today?”

Lian -” Eh, I could go with some normal tea. Mint if you have? And I brought some snacks this time, thought we might switch from our usual cookies and such.” The girl picked from her bag two boxes of freshly baked goods from a local place the office lady told her about.

Clerk -” Perfect, truth be told, I got tired of the one from the office like ten years ago. Let’s see if they mix with what my other guest will bring.”

-” Other..guest?”, Lian asked, raising her eyebrow and forcing the corner of her lips to raise slightly. She knew that her host knew more than half of the city, but still never expected her to spring on Lian a surprise like that without asking beforehand. 

...

Lian found herself sitting at a coffee table across from a human, another teenager like Mira. The teen carried a little camera around their neck, and they fidgeted with it since they got there. Only said a very low-energy “Hi” to her and otherwise replied with small nods to the office lady.

Clerk -” Deary, you look absolutely pale today. Did something? Is there anything I can do to help you out?” The woman handed them a napkin, which the teen shyly refused. But the old goat wouldn't let go, and she pulls napkin after napkin from a boundless pocket, until one was finally accepted.

After rotating the camera for a few spins, the teen cringed at the question and meagerly gathered the strength to reply.

Teen -” It’s…it’s my pact partner.”

-” The small coral one? Mincha?”, asked the office lady with her sweet ignorance, to which the teen squinted their eyes before responding.

Teen -” What? No, that’s the bland…that’s the smaller sister. I was talking about Kira, the symmetrical one. She was…injured a few hours ago. In an accident. She’s better now, but still, it was quite…terrible. ” The boy put his shaking cup down before the memory from the incident brought about another accident.

Lian stopped for the first time from sipping her tea silently and gave him her regrets, choosing to ignore the comment he made about Mincha. “ Sounds rough…Oh, I’m Liandan by the way, but people shortened it to Lian all of a sudden.”

Finley -” Right, right, Finley is my preferred name”, they replied, blowing their runny nose in a handkerchief. '' Lady Olpio told me she had a new brunch buddy, so I heard a few things about you so far…amnesia?”

The girl thought she had to feel upset about the two gossiping about her, but that’s also why she was there as well, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she and Ogda would be gossiping about topics from time to time. “ That’s something we can get into another time. So, you were talking about your partner, Kira? And Mincha- how does that work?”

The teen started retelling their morning meeting with Feth, which sent Lian a cold shiver down her spine, the testing, and how Kira got involved. “And she’s sleeping in a healing pod; the healers told me she will recover soon. It was quite the tragedy, the whole ordeal! Dam that…” but he stopped before cursing. “ Excuse my outburst”, they then politely asked the other guests.

Clerk -” Deary, no. Deary, it’s alright, you are in good company here, we aren’t going to judge you for something like that, right Lian?”, turned Olpio to the girl, with a demanding smile to agree with her;

Lian -” Oh? Right, of course, as she said. That was an outburst?” thought the girl, who was starting to compare Finley to Maci; it was very difficult for her to find a common point between today’s teens. Still, that was just her issue, as there was something else she was more curious about. “So, are you in pact with this Kira? From the context between you and Olpio, I kinda get the impression Mincha is also your partner. Or am I wrong?”

The teen was too caught up in their own worries to notice how quickly the atmosphere in the room had changed. Unwillingly, the two morphed into participants in an interrogation. 

Finley -” Yeah, so…Kira and Mincha are sisters, with Kira being the eldest. I’m technically in a pact with just her, but their birth line is weird, from what they told me. They are like two seeds that grew in the same pod and kinda have this…link. Haven’t paid that much attention to it though, Mincha is so dull when she explains stuff. Anyway, when Kira and I became partners, her sister also came along I guess.” Finley shrugged at that, in an uncaring manner, which didn’t sit right with the girl. 

Lian started feeling a pinching in her back, and she forcefully adjusted her posture to make it disappear, which didn’t help out in the end. She still didn’t think that Mincha was right during their argument, but a wave of sympathy for the coral firbolg washed over her, mixed with some resentment for who was supposed to be Mincha’s partners. Still, not the moment to comment on it.

Lian -” Finley, so when the three of you made the Fect pact, how did you know that Mincha was part of it? Did it have something to do with your power?”, asked Lian, who was now turning this small brunch into a more obvious interrogation session, which actually enticed the old goat lady as well. “ Woo, this is more exciting than finding the same old boring gossip!”

Finley -” Ah, yeah. So, let’s go from the start, ok? I met the girls three years ago and saw Kira as the muse I was looking for in my craft. The peculiar, but symmetrical foto model every single artist is searching for!” The teen went with his praises for the firbolg for another few minutes, before getting to the parts Lian was waiting for. “ So, first things first, the weird cat Union member drew some weird lines on me, which started moving around. They wiggled, and turned, for a while, until the brassy one-”

-” Excuse me hon, then what?”, asked Olpio, a bit confused, which Finley glossed over entirely and just continued talking-

Finley -” Reached my forehead, spiraled around until it formed a dot right here”, he pointed towards, lifting his forelock to show a yellow circle. “ The cat-man told me it was the sign of remodeling…Which just means that I can change the colors of things”, they said, a bit giddy. “ But only if Kira or Mincha are nearby. Apparently, you need your partner around to use the power.”

To Lian's major surprise, what was supposed to be a cooling-off meeting became an important research moment for her. “ Why didn’t any of this show up in our library search?” she asked, raising her voice, a bit annoyed after she realized how much time they wasted there.

Olpio -” Oh, that’s cus-”

Lian -” It’s another classified thing, right? What the hell, and no offense here Olpio, are those Union members so afraid that they are trying to bury everything?” The girl shuffled angrily around, munching loudly and trying to inhibit her sudden angry burst.

Olpio -” Lian, sweetie, you must understand something around here. We value those kids and their organization. They earned our trust. If they can’t talk about something, then I believe it’s for a good reason.”, the goat lady sipped another cup before slyly approaching the table, tucked her head down and motioned to the others to do the same. She then whispered: “ I heard it’s because they are doing some business with those Tuatha fellows. Don’t know more, though, but it’s kinda weird how one of them keeps coming to this city from time to time. I’m telling ya, the Union is trying to do something with them.”

With that in mind, Lian decided on her next course of action. She still had two months before deciding if she’d go into the human world or continue searching for her past here, but during that time finding more about the pact felt like the best course. “Finley, Olpio thanks for all of your help. I think I know what I should do next. “

Lian put her cup down and left the two to continue their meeting with just the two. She, on the other hand, had a date with a mirror for now.